LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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Shelf 13_A.5"' 

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UNITED STATES OF AMEKI(\4. 



HELPS 



IN 



TEACHING READING 



MARTHA S. HUSSEY 
Teacher of Reading in The Girls' Latin School, Boston 




imy^ 



BOSTON 
D LOTHROP COMPANY 

WASHINGTON STREET, OPP. BROMFIELD 



v'^'-A^ 



■:5 



COPYRIGHT, 1891, 

BY 

D. LOTHBOP COMPANT. 



PREFACE, 



(^OOD oral reading is so seldom heard, and yet, 
when heard, is so greatly enjoyed that, even in 
the absence of more important reasons, the processes 
by which proficiency in it may be acquired are worthy 
of careful study. 

But good reading — and by good reading I mean 
not the formal, declamatory rendering of dramatic 
selections, but the natural, intelligent and appreciative 
interpretation of an author's thought — serves a higher 
purpose than that of mere enjoyment. It brings the 
listener who, under the influence of indifferent, per- 
functory reading, might be lulled into a slumberous 
state of passive receptivity, into a state of mental 
alertness. It puts him into vital relations with the 
author's thought. When the listener is in sympathy 

iii 



IV 



PREFACE. 



with the matter read, good reading helps him to digest 
and assimilate it; when he dissents from it, good read- 
ing prompts him to vindicate his dissent by argument, 
or at least to reexamine the grounds of his dissent. 

Nor is this the only benefit. Intelligent reading is 
an intellectual, not a mechanical act. It not only 
inspires the listener, but it exercises a reflex influence 
on the mental processes of the reader. It is in the 
best sense educative ; and therefore is entitled to rec- 
ognition as one of the substantive elements of any 
course of training that aims at culture as its final 
product. 

Good reading does not, then, as Dogberry says and 
as many persons believe, come by nature. It is not 
merely, or even chiefly, a matter of fluent utterance, 
agreeable voice, and musical modulations, invaluable 
as all these natural gifts, when found, undoubtedly 
are. Nor can it be taught by hap-hazard appeals in 
which the pupil is urged to imitate the emphasis 
and inflections of his teacher. On the contrary, it 
depends on definite, ascertainable principles, which, 
when clearly formulated, progressively arranged, and 
suitably illustrated, may be taught by the same meth- 
ods that are followed in other departments of in- 
ductive knowledge, and with the same assurance of 
determinate success. 

I confidently bespeak, therefore, for this little book, 



PREFACE. V 

which discusses in a helpful and practical way the 
principles on which good reading depends, and which 
embodies the results of prolonged and successful 
experience, a cordial welcome at the hands of the 
teachers to whom it is addressed. 

John Tetlow. 



INTRODUCTION, 



TT has been long felt by those who have given the 
subject of Reading much thought that a chief dif- 
ficulty in the way of teaching it lies in the fact that it 
is not clearly formulated. 

For this reason, success in this department depends 
more than in most branches of study upon the taste 
and skill of the individual teacher, who is often at a 
loss how to proceed in order to bring about results 
which may be earnestly desired. 

To meet this lack of definite methods in some 
degree has been the aim of the writer in preparing this 
little hand-book. The book is not a compendium of 
elocution for elocution teachers, but is designed princi- 

vii 



y[[[ INTRODUCTION. 

pally as an aid to the teachers of reading in our public 
schools. 

The lessons which follow are the outgrowth of the 
writer's own work, and as such, it is hoped, will be 
found to have a practical value. 

In the arrangement of the chapters, care has been 
taken that each subject should as far as possible 
logically develop from the preceding one; thus, the 
lesson on Key-words — which it is intended should 
suggest to the pupil's mind that reading is not merely 
calliiig words, but that every sentence has its central 
thought — is naturally followed by that on Picture- 
making, while the one on Contrast implies a certain 
amount of practice on the principles involved in these 
two preceding lessons. 

For convenience' sake, each subject is given a chap- 
ter by itself, but in many cases several distinct lessons 
should be formed from one chapter. Thus, the chap- 
ter which treats of Articulation requires to be broken 
up into several lessons, in order that the subject 
may be properly developed. The number of lessons 
formed from the several chapters will naturally vary 
with different teachers, but it is strongly recom- 
mended that the error of giving too much at one time 
be avoided. 

In teaching reading, enthusiasm on the part of the 
teacher is indispensable to success, since, however 



INTRODUCTION. ix 

clearly the subject may be presented, the appropriate 
expression of the thought and feeling depends to a 
large extent upon the amount of life and spirit which 
the pupil puts into his rendering, and this again 
depends upon the enthusiasm of the teacher. Let the 
lessons be very brief at first, if this is found to be 
necessary to keep up the interest. 

The writer has long regretted that in the study of 
literature more attention is not paid to reading aloud 
with expression and feeling from the works of the 
authors studied. She is confident, from her own 
experience, that teachers would find expressive oral 
reading a valuable aid in leading the pupil not only to 
a better understanding but to a deeper love of the 
best authors. 

One further suggestion, the old proverb, "Practice 
makes perfect," is applicable here. It is not sufficient 
that the lessons which follow be accepted and under- 
stood as theory. Unless they are diligently and per- 
sistently practised, the end sought will not be attained. 

It cannot be expected that all the points upon 
which teachers may desire help will have been touched 
upon in this brief manual. If, however, the lessons 
shall furnish some slight aid to teachers in their 
endeavors to correct the lifeless and meaningless style 
of reading too often found in our schools, the author 
will feel that her aim is reached. 



X INTRODUCTION. 

With much gratitude, the wTiter acknowledges her 
indebtedness to many friends for valuable sugges- 
tions, especially to Mr. John Tetlow, Head Master of 
the G^.rls' High and Latin Schools, for his generous 
encouragement and assistance. 

M. S. H. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

PHYSICAL CULTURE I 



CHAPTER II. 

KEY-WORDS . . . . . » . 13 

CHAPTER in. 

PICTURE-MAKING 21 

CHAPTER IV. 

CONTRAST 32 

CHAPTER V. 

INFLECTION .... ^ - 43 

xi 



^" CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 



ARTICULATION 



CHAPTER VII. 

QUALITY OF VOICE . . . , 

CHAPTER VIII. 

EMPHASIS 

CHAPTER IX. 

FORCE .... 

CHAPTER X. 

PITCH OR MODULATION 

CHAl^TER XI. 

RATE OF MOVEMEX r . 

CHAPTER XII. 

TKANsniON 



5S 



70 



So 



95 



03 



109 



117 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



CHAPTER I. 
PHYSICAL CULTURE. 

TT is not intended in this little manual to dwell 
^ very largely upon the subject of physical 
culture, but it will be found that a few simple 
exercises such as are described below will aid the 
teachers in training their pupils to acquire such a 
position of the body as will enable them to use 
their vocal organs most healthfully and easily, and 
will be at the same time most graceful in appear- 
ance. The exercises are designed chiefly to secure 
erect carriage of body, chest development and deep 
breathing, and it is earnestly recommended that 
they be practised frequently and with precision 



2 HELPS IN TEACHING READING 

until the habit of a correct position is formed. 
The teacher should be careful to see that the air 
of the school-room is pure before the exercises 
are attempted, and they should be given with 
brightness and cheerfulness, never being allowed 
to degenerate into a lifeless routine. 

POSITION OF BODY. 

The first requisite is a good sitting position. 
This is secured by training the pupils to sit well 
back in their seats with the shoulders back and 
the head high. In order to obtain a correct 
position it is not necessary that there should be 
rigidity ; the faults to be avoided are, a slipping 
forward in the seat (which curves the spine) and a 
contraction of the chest. 

It is a good practice to ask the pupils occasion- 
ally to sit in an easy, unconstrained manner, 
while still being careful to preserve the essentials 
of a correct position ; they will thus acquire the 
Jiabit of keeping the shoulders back, the head 
high, etc., even when they are bending forward 
over their desks or leaning easily back in their 
seats. 

Children should not be allowed to sit with one 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 3 

foot under them. I have known spinal difficulties 
to be brought on by this habit. Teachers should 
also be careful not to require a pupil to occupy a 
seat which is so small for him that his movements 
are cramped. 



SITTING POSITION. 

EXERCISE I. 

First. Sit well back in the seat, supporting 
the lower part of the back against the chair, shoul- 
ders back, head erect, chin slightly drawn in. 

Words of command : Sitting position ! Ready ! 
Position ! 

Second. Lean forward upon the desk, still 
holding the chest firm. 

Words of command : Ready ! Forward ! 

Third. Lean back in the seat in an easy, com- 
fortable position, still holding the chest firm and 
the head erect. 

Words of command : Ready ! Back ! 

A correct sitting position having been obtained, 
attention should be called next to the standing 
position. The military position is the basis used 
in gaining this. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 




STANDING POSITION. 

EXERCISE II. 

Place the heels firmly to- 
gether with toes well turned 
out. Bring the ear, shoulder, 
hip, knee and ankle into line ; ^ 
let the arms hang easily at the 
sides. 

Words of command: Stand- 
ing position ! Ready i Posi- 
tion ! 

The most frequent error in 
the standing position is the 
throwing out of the hips. This fault is very com- 
mon with young ladies and interferes seriously 
with a graceful carriage of the body. I am 
convinced that the error is often brought about by 
zealous mothers who are constantly admonishing 
their children to ** stand straight,"the straightness 
to them meaning the throwing back of the shoul- 
ders ; the child thus gets into a habit of bending 
back the upper part of the body which causes the 
hips to be thrown out. 




1 Were an imaginary line to be dropped from the ear, it would 
pass through the parts mentioned. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



If the hips are first placed in the correct posi- 
tion and the shoulders then brought into line 
with them, this fault will be obviated. Teachers 
should be careful that there is no contraction of 
the abdominal muscles in this exercise. 

The correct standing position having been 
acquired by the pupil, the teacher would do well 
to teach next the speaker's position ; this differs 
from the military or standing position only in the 
position of the feet. 



SPEAKER'S POSITION. 

EXERCISE III. 

Place one foot about four 
inches in advance of the other, 
the heel of the forward foot 
being kept in line with the hol- 
low of the back foot. Let the 
weight of the body rest upon 
the back foot, and bend the 
front knee slightly. 

In recovering position i care 
should be taken that the pupil 
is not allowed to slide the foot 



1 By " position " the standing position is meant. 



6 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

back ; it should always be lifted and placed. On 
count one the forward foot is brought back to 
military^ position, the knee being still bent; on 
count two the knee is straightened, which causes 
the weight to fall equally on both feet. 

Words of command : Speaker's position, right 
foot ! Ready ! Place ! Recover position ! One, 
two ! 

Repeat the movement with the left foot carried 
in advance. 

Repeat the exercise several times, using the 
feet alternately. 

The speaker's position should be insisted upon 
whenever the pupil stands to read or recite. Prac- 
tice for a short time will make it a habit, and it 
will be found that a uniform position of this kind 
will do much to break up the slouching manner of 
standing which teachers find it so difficult to 
correct, and will aid in preventing the swaying 
movement from foot to foot which is so common 
a fault among younger pupils. 

1 The heels together. 




HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 7 

ERECT CARRIAGE OF BODY. 

EXERCISE IV. 

Standing in military posi- 
tion, place the tips of the fin- 
^ gers on the head.^ After a 
\deep inhalation,^ carry the arms 
jup over the head, then slowly 
/'' down to the sides with palms 
front, stretching them to their 
full length. When the arms 
have reached the sides, stand 
for a moment in rigid position, 
then let them fall easily for- 
ward, still holding the shoulders well back. 

Words of command : Hands at head ! Ready ! 
Place ! Inhale ! One, two, three, four ! ^ Hold 
shoulders back ! Drop arms ! Exhale ! 

The arms are moving upward and down to the 
sides of the body through the four counts ; the 
breath is exhaled so gradually throughout the exer- 
cise that at the close there is considerable air left in 
the lungs, which is expelled by one long exhalation. 

^ Be careful that the head is not drooped. 

2 In all the exercises, the lungs should be kept well filled with 



The movement of the arms should be slow and regular. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 




hale! 
sides 



One, 
One, 



EXERCISE V. 

Let the arms be placed at 
the sides with the palms turned 
to the front (the shoulders 
being held well back), raise 
the arms slowly over the head, 
stretching them to their full 
length, until the thumbs touch, 
then return them to their orig- 
inal position at the sides. 

Words of command : Carr)' 
arms over head ! Ready ! In- 
two. three, four ! Arms returned to 
two. etc. 



CHEST DEVELOPMENT. 

EXERCISE VI. 

First. Stand with the shoulders well thrown 
back, the head high, the arms at the sides. This 
position produces what is called the active chest. 

Second. Drop the shoulders forward, contract- 
ing and narrowing the chest^ (passive chest). 

1 Pupils should be taught that this exercise is purely muscular 
and does not depend upon the breathing. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



Words of command : Ready ! Active chest ! 
Passive chest ! 

This exercise should be repeated several times, 
the active, or well developed chest being immedi- 
ately followed by the passive, or contracted one ; 
pupils thus realize almost unconsciously the bene- 
fit of the former position. Let the exercise be 
practised, also, in a sitting position. 

EXERCISE VII. 

1 . Place the tips of the fingers on the shoulders. 

2. Bring the arms round to the front until the 
elbows nearly touch. 

3. Raise the elbows high in front. 

4. Carry the arms around to the side, keeping 
the elbows high. 

5. Drop the arms to the original position. 




10 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Words of command : Hands on shoulders ! 
Ready ! Place ! Inhale ! One, two,^ etc. 

This exercise may be varied by combining the 
movements into one continuous motion, omitting 
the counts. 



DEEP BREATHING. 

EXERCISE VIII. 

Place the hands on the shoulders as in 
Exercise VII, then inhale (from the lower part 
of the lungs ) and exhale, forcibly, several times 
in succession. Do not allow the shoulders to rise. 

Words of command : Hands at shoulders ! 
Place! Ready! Inhale! Exhale! 

exercise IX. 

Place the hands flat against the sides of the 
waist, with the elbows held well back and the 
head high (not thrust out). Inhale, and exhale 
forcibly. 

Words of command : Hands flat against sides ! 
Place! Ready! Inhale! Exhale! Repeat sev- 
eral times. 

1 Let each movement take place on the corresponding count. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



II 



EXERCISE X. 



Stand with one foot in advance of the other in 
an oblique direction and the hands clasped behind 
the head (the head being held high) ; inhale and 
exhale. 

Words of command : Right foot advanced, 
hands clasped behind head ! Ready ! Place ! 
Inhale ! Exhale ! 

Repeat, with the left foot advanced. 



EXERCISE XL 

The hands are placed 
upon the hips and the 
body is thrown forward 
to the right into a charg- 
ing position ; i. e., the 
weight of the body is 
carried forward on to the 
right leg, which is thrust 
out in an oblique direc- 
tion, the knee being well 
bent, while the left leg is 

held straight and tense, with the left foot flat 

upon the floor. 




12 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

While in this position inhale and exhale, forci- 
bly, several times. 

Words of command : Right foot, charge ! 
Ready ! Charge ! Inhale ! Exhale ! 
Repeat, charging to the left. 

EXERCISE XII. 

First. Inhale and exhale through a certain 
number of counts ; i. e., let the teacher count a 
certain number while the pupils are inhaling and 
again while they exhale. ^ 

Second. Inhale a deep breath, then exhale 
while counting aloud. ^ 

^ The number of counts may be gradually increased, but 
great care should be used not to carry the number too high. 
- A sweet, quiet tone of voice should be used in the counting. 



KELPS IN TEACHING READING. 1 3 



CHAPTER II. 
KEY-WORDS. 

A S the expression Key-word is one which will 
^ ^ be used frequently in our talks on reading, 
our next lesson shall be one on that subject. A 
teacher says to her class, '' Class, suppose I were 
to say to you, 'The boy jumped from his seat' in 
this way" — the teacher speaks in a very slow, 
drawling manner — '*do you like the way in which 
I say it.?" 

Almost universally the class say, "No." 

Teacher, "Why not .'^ " 

Hands are raised. 

Miss C, "You don't speak quickly enough." 

Teacher, " Why do you wish me to speak 
quickly.?" 

" Because the boy jumped." 



14 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Teacher, " Do you like this way of saying it 
better?" 

The teacher speaks in a quick, sprightly manner. 

Class, ''Yes, Miss Lee." 

"And now, if in that same sentence instead of 
'jumped' I had used the words 'rose quietly,' 
should I have read it in a different way.-*" 

Class, "Yes." 

Teacher, " How different ? " 

Miss B, "You wouldn't have jumped so with 
your voice." 

Miss A, "You would have spoken just as you 
usually do." 

Teacher, " Yes, you mean I should have spoken 
more quietly and smoothly, do you not.?" 

"Yes, Miss Lee." 

"Let us now take another sentence. Suppose 
I say to you, ' Silence ! we are nearing the out- 
posts of the enemy !' in this way" — the teacher 
gives the sentence in a very loud tone of voice — 
"are you satisfied.'*" 

Class, " No, ma'am ! " 

Teacher, "Why not.?" 

Miss A, " If the commander spoke in that way 
the enemy would hear him." 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. I 5 

Teacher, ''Why do you not wish them to 
hear?" 

"Because he is going to steal upon them 
silently and surprise them." 

" How do you know that ? " 

*' Why, I think the word ' silence ' tells that ; 
the officer v/ho is speaking wishes his soldiers to 
keep quiet." 

Teacher, ''Then do you like better this manner 
of saying it .-* " 

The teacher now reads the sentence in an 
excited undertone. 

Class, "Yes, Miss Lee." 

Teacher, "And now, class, what word in the 
first sentence helped you decide how it should be 
read.?" 

Miss B, "jumped." 

" And what words in the second sentence ? " 

Miss A, "rose quietly." 

"And in this last one .?" 

Miss C, "Silence!" 

Teacher, "And, pupils, what is the use of a 
key.?" 

Miss N, "To open things." 

Miss R, "To unlock things." 



l6 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Teacher, ''And, then, what do you think is the 
use of a key-word ? "' 

Miss A, "To open sentences." 

Miss B, "To unlock the meaning of sentences." 

Teacher, " Yes, and now who will tell us how 
the word 'jumped' unlocked the meaning of the 
first sentence.?" 

Miss T, "Why, it told us the boy was excited 
and in a hurry, and so he got up very quickly." 

Teacher, "And who will define for us the 
expression ' key-word ' .? " 

Miss A, " I think the key-word is the important 
word." 

Miss B, " I think it is the word which stands 
for the chief thought, and it helps us, too, to 
decide how the sentence should be read." 

Teacher, " Yes, those are good definitions ; 
and now, class, you may find me the key-words in 
the following sentences : 

"The cat sat purring lazily by the fire." 

Class, " Purring lazily. " 

Teacher, " Yes ; you notice we have two words 
here which cannot be separated, one belongs to 
and explains the other. We will call this a key- 
phrase instead of a kev-word. Here is another 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 1/ 

sentence. * Puss darted angrily forward, showing 
her claws.' What is the key-word or key-phrase 
here ?" 

Class, "darted." 

Teacher, " Is that one word sufficient ; don't 
cats ever dart forward joyously.^" 

Class, *' darted angrily forward." 

Teacher, ** Yes, that gives us the whole thought. 
Now, I want a volunteer to read these two sen- 
tences and show by her manner of reading the 
two different states of mind in which pussy was. 
I am glad to see so many hands ; Miss H, you 
may try." 

Miss H reads. 

Teacher, " That is very good ; how did she give 
you the impression, class, of the cat's sitting lazily 
purring by the fire ? " 

Miss B, "She read it in a sleepy way." 

"And how, then, did she seem to make us 
see Kitty with her back up, angrily darting 
forward ?" 

Miss C, " She read it in a quick, sharp 
manner." 

The teacher would do well here and at future 
times to give several simple sentences containing 



1 8 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

a prominent key-word which the pupils mav pick 
out ; different pupils should then be chilled upon 
to read the sentences, care being- taken to train 
them gradually to rcLilize the help which the rec- 
ognition of the key-word gives in deciding upon 
the manner in which the selection should be 
read. 

The sentences which follow mav be used for 
this purpose : 

1. But I (fi'/y him. lot him cornel 
J. But I i/es/'is(- him. he is a coward I 

3. A n^n'/r he spoke. --And will you then re- 
fuse me help ? " 

4. Sja7y he spoke. •' And will you then refuse 
me help ? " 

5. O.'iici'.' Throw him the rope. 

6. c7/<v777r, then, mv little man. live and iaiarh 
as boyhood can. 

From our lines, the glad shout of ]lcton' 
breaks. 

S. A A\7/> .' They gain the boat and push out 
from the shore. 

O. The lii^ht wind died into a sii^-K and 
scarcely stirred. 

^ Kev-words .ire in italics^ 



HELPS IX TEACHING READING I9 

10. The wM winJ r^ii'es about the house to- 
il ii:ht. 

11. A :c'//ii, insafie iig/it canio into Phil 
Adams' eves as ho saw tho boat drifting" slowlv 
awav from the shore. 

ij. "Down with him I " "Kill the traitor 
cur ! " rang- out the saViJi^^c- tv;r. 

15. Mow we chcert'ii as we saw those daiidy 
coats still back of the drifting- smoke. 

14. But the sight that si/rm-ct/ our welcome 
shout 1 shall never in lite forget.^ 

Longfellow's "Birds of Killingworth " fur- 
nishes many examples of key-words which niav be 
easily picked out bv the pupils, the stanza begin- 
ning with the words, "Then from his house, a 
temple painted white," and the three following, in 
which the different characteristics of the four 
men are so vividly portmyed, being especially 
adapted to this exercise. Teachers will readily 
add cithers to the selections given, and frec]uent 
practice in kev-words will do much in aiding the 
pupil to realize that there should be harmony 
between the thought itself and the manner of 

^ The teacher would do well to bring out the contrast between 
the /V^/in^ e-xpressed in the thirteenth and fourteenth sentences. 



20 HELPS 1\ TEACHING HEADING. 

delivering- it. 1 Nvould say with regard to both 
the preceding- lesson and those which are to fol- 
low that they are not theoretical only ; the lessons 
having been used with actual classes of various 
ages, in many cases almost in the same form in 
which thev are here presented. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



CHAPTER HI. 
PICTURE'MAKING. 

/^UR next lesson shall be one on Picture-mak- 
^^ ing. This demands an appeal to the imag- 
inative faculty of the pupil, and I should like here 
to plead for the greater cultivation of this faculty. 
It is a help in all studies and particularly so in 
this oi reading. A teacher of English in one of 
our High Schools in a recent talk with nie on the 
subject was bemoaning the extent to which she 
was obliged to explain to her pupils all allusions 
to mythological or fairy tales. "Why," she said, 
"did not these pupils read when they were chil- 
dren the story of the pearls and the toads drop- 
ping from the mouth, and similar fairy tales .^ 
My pupils cannot get into the real atmosphere 
of a selection which contains illustrations of this 
nature because their imagination has not been 



22 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

cultivated, and all explanation on my part fails 
to bring the picture before them." Another 
teacher, this latter teaching in a young ladies' 
school in New York city, said to me, " I read to 
my pupils a beautiful descriptive selection, a rare 
bit of word-painting, such, for instance, as * Haw- 
thorne's Great Stone Face.' I am amazed to see 
how faintly their imagination grasps the pictures 
presented. There is, in my opinion," she added, 
"altogether too little demand made upon the 
imagination in modern teaching!" With the 
hope that others have arrived at this same conclu- 
sion, I will indicate a few simple ways in which 
the power of picture-making used with special ref- 
erence to the subject before us, that of reading, 
may be cultivated, and let me add, without this 
power on the part of the pupil, the reading, how- 
ever correct, will be tame and lifeless, failing to 
make any lasting impression on the mind of the 
listener. I frequently say to my pupils, " If you 
do not see the picture yourselves, you cannot 
hope to make others see it." It will be found 
that some possess this power to a greater extent 
than others, by nature, but it may be cultivated in 
all. Let us consider the following stanza : 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 2$ 

Over my shaded door-way, 

Two little brown-winged blrds^ 
Have chosen to fashion their dwelling, 

And utter their loving words. 
All day they are going and coming 

On errands frequent and fi^et, 
And warbling over and over, 

Sw^et, sw6et, swdet. O sw^et ! 

This is written upon the board. When the 
children — we are dealing now with younger 
pupils — have become familiar with the words 
the picture may be developed somewhat as 
follows : 

Teacher, *'Who will tell me the meaning of the 
word dwelling ?'' 

Charley, "House." 

Mamie, " It means the place where people 
live." 

Teacher, " In this case, does it mean the place 
where people live.-*" 

Howard, '* It means here the place where the 
birds live." 

^ The request has been made that inflection marks should 
accompany the extracts used, as a greater aid to the teacher. 
See the lesson on inflection for an explanation of the marks. It 
should be remembered that slides or inflections occur on the 
important words of a sentence and are placed upon the accented 
syllable of the word. 



24 Hl.EPS IN rFACHlN\; RFADIXCt. 

Tcachrr. • Vos. and what do we call the birds' 
house ' " 

Harrv. "We call it a nest." 

Teacher. ••Well. now. when I i;ive the order, I 
wish von all to close your eyes and "make 
believe ' n on see with those other eves we all 
have, the eves ot the iniai;inatioTi. tiie picture ot 
the house to which tiie shaded doorway belong,s 
and the nest of the little birds. Try to see your 
picture very clearly. Vou m.ay keep your eyes 
closed until I sav * open.' when those of you who 
think vou can describe vour picture so plainly 
that vou can make nie see it. may do so." 

The teacher waits a few minutes while the 
children sit with closed eyes striving to "imag- 
ine" their picture, then the signal being given, 
calls upon several for descriptions. 

Teacher. "Johnny, you may paint your picture 
for us." 

Johnnv. "Well. 1 saw a big. white house with a 
big tree in front, an elm. I guess it was. and there 
was a pia.-.M. and a bird's nest up in the tree." 

Teacher. "Yes. Johnnv. 1 see vour picture. 
Now. b'^lorence. let us have vours." 

Florence. " I saw a little brown cottage and a 



HELPS IN TKACHIW; KKADING. 2$ 

vinr. vi woodbine, I think it was, grow all over the 
front door, and the birds had built their nest in 
it." 

Teaeher. "And. Howard, vours. please." 

Howard. " 1 saw a bii;- yellow farnidunise just 
like l^nele Jem's, and there was a bii; horse-ehest- 
nut tree in the front vard. and the nest was on 
one of the lowest branehes." 

In this way, various pictures are brought to 
lijrht from the irallerv of the childish imagination, 
the aim of the teacher being to make the child 
realize the value of a tlistinct, clear-cut impres- 
sion ; this mav be done bv praising the [pictures 
most vividly presented ami, perhaps, by asking, at 
times, a few leading questions such as. in the 
present case : 

"What is the shape of the house?" "Is any 
one looking at the birds .^ " "What kind of birds 
are they?" "Are the birds on the nest or living 
in and out ? " etc. 

Exercises such as the foregoing, founded imi 
simple poetical or ]-)rose extracts, will help the 
children to gain a quick, vivid impression in 
descriptive reading. A few selections are here 
given which may be used for this purpose : 



26 HFl.rS IN TF.\CHIN\; KFAIMXCt. 

I Tho barn was low and dim and old, 

Broad on the tioor tho siinshino slept. 
And through the windows and the door, 
Swift in and out the swAllows swept. 

Develop here the pieture ot the bi^;.. old barn 
with the diOors open at either end and. the tar- 
awa)- eorners dark with shadows. The ehildren 
will delight to till in the details ot the pieture. 
Thus, one will see a bi^; swin^;. sueh vis ehildren 
love, haui^iui; low in the eentre ot the Kirn, 
another will see the full hav-niows rising- high on 
either side, a ehild with the "poetie instinet " will, 
perhaps, speak of the beautiful view of hill and 
meadow to be seen from the open doorwav. 
Another will diseover old Dobbin in his stall and 
so on to an almost unlimited extent. In faet. 
when the faseination of this pieture-making fairly 
gets possession v-'f the ehildish mind, as it surely 
will in the hands of a live teaeher. the temptation 
to take too niueli time for the exereise will be 
ditVieult to resist. 

I sit by the fne in the dark winter's night. 
While the eat eleans her faee with her foot 

m delight. 
And the winds all a-eold. with rude elatter 
and din. 



HFXPS IN TKACHlNci KKAOING. 2/ 

Shake the windows like nSbbcrs who want to 
come in. 

« % « « « <i» 

l^v tho brii;ht co/\ tiro arc my chilihon at 

l>lay. 
Makini; hi>uscs oi oAnls, or a coach o( a 

chair. 
While I sit cnjovini; their happiness there. 

The iletails ot this jMCture may be numerous, 
the open tire snappiui; and tlashini;. the jnissy 
— tlu^ color ami si/e ot" which will be ditterent to 
each child stretched out on the lui; in purrini;" 
content, tho cheerful table pik\l hii;h with books, 
the roarini^ p^le outside beatim; aL:,ainst the win- 
dows and serving; to heii;hten the sense ol cheer- 
ful comfort within, the merry chiUlren, etc. The 
teacher by a few judicious sui;i;"estions ami ques- 
tions can c^ften helji the children to obtain a more 
coniprehensiye picture than they are able to «;et 
unaideil. 

3 Rartram, the lime-burner, a rough, heavy- 
looking man, begrimed with charcoal, sat watching 
his kiln, at night-fall, while his little son played at 
building htSuses with scattered fragments of mar- 
ble, when on the hill-side below them they heard 
a roar of lAnghter, not mirthful, but slow, and 
even solemn, like a wind shaking the boughs of 
the f6rest. 



2S HELPS 1\ TEACHING READING. 

4 Shut in from all the world without. 
We sat the clean-winged hearth about. 



The house-dog on his paws out-spread 
Laid to the tire his drowsy head. 
The cat's dark silhouette on the wall 
A couchant tiger's seemed to fall ; 
And, for the winter fireside meet. 
Between the andiron's straddling feet. 
The mug of cider simmered slow, 
The apples sputtered in a row, 
And, close at hand the basket stood 
With nuts from brown October's wood. 



Othere, the old sea-captain. 

Who dwelt in Helgoland 

To King Alfred, the Lover of Truth, 

Brought a snow-white walrus tooth, 

Which he held in his brown right hand. 



His figure was tall and stately 
Like a b6y's his ^ye appeared ; 
His hair was yellow as h.\y. 
But threads of a silverv gray 
Gleamed in his tawny beard. 

Hearty and hale was Othere, 
His cheek had the color of o:\k ; 
With a kind of laugh in his speech 
Like the sea-tide on the beach, 
As unto the King he spoke. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 29 

6 All day had the snow come down, all day. 

As it never came down before ; 
And over the hills, at sunset, lay 

Some two or three f6et or more ; 
The fence was 16st, and the wall of stone ; 
The windows blocked and the well-curbs 

gone ; 
The haystack had grown to a mountain lift^ 
And the woodpile looked like a monster drift 

As it lay by the farmer's door. 

7 The twilight is sad and cloudy. 

The wind blows wild and free, 
And like the wings of s^a-birds 
Flash the white caps of the sea. 

Within the fisherman's cottage 

There shines a ruddier light. 
And a little fi\ce at the window 

Peers out into the night. 

Close, close it is pressed to the window, 

As if those childish eyes 
Were looking into the darkness 

To see some form arise. 

And a woman's waving shadow 

Is moving to and fro, 
Now rising to the ceiling 

Now bowing and bending low. 

With older pupils the same general plan may 
be pursued, use being made of selections which 
require the exercise of a more cultivated imag- 



30 HLEPS IN TEACHlXr, READlNc^. 

ination. For example, let the pupils paint a word 
picture from the tirst stanza of "The Sandpiper." 
bv Celia Thaxter. bringing- out the idea of the eold. 
gray (November?) dav, with the solitary figure 
"flitting up and down" the long, narrow stretch 
of beach and the little sandpiper skimming along 
in the distance, while the waves tumble up i>n 
the shore with a muttered undertone of prophec}' 
for the coming storm. The whole poem admits 
of a succession of pictures as does also the poem 
entitled "Each and All," by Emerson, which pre- 
sents a series of exquisite pictures, each one like 
an etching in its clear-cut delicacy. 

When the imaginative faculty of the pupils has 
been cultivated to a certain extent by this method. 
a further step would be to read descriptive poems 
and prose extracts, calling at the close of the read- 
ing for a series of pictures from the class. Thus 
the poem of "The Cradle," by Celia Tha.xter. 
quoted from above will delight younger pupils, 
who will be able to gather from it a variety oi 
pictures. One will have seen most vividly the 
baby boy swinging low in the improvised cradle, 
and will be glad to paint his portrait, another will 
have pictured to himself most plainly the scene 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 3 1 

descriptive of the wrathful nurse rescuing her 
charge from his (to her) unfitting couch, etc. 
Poems which may be used in this way with 
younger pupils are: " Inhospitality " and "Under 
the Lighthouse," by Mrs. Thaxter ; "The Chil- 
dren's Hour," by Longfellow; "The Pied Piper of 
Hamelin," by Browning. The various Juvenile 
Magazines will also furnish selections which can 
be used in tnis way, and teachers will doubtless 
be able to use many extracts from the reading- 
books found in the schools. 

In Longfellow's "Evangeline" and Whittier's 
*• Snow-Bound " will be found abundant material 
for older pupils. 

Another valuable aid to the end in view, the 
power of vivid and rapid picture-making is to call 
for a story from the pupils, some story containing 
a striking incident which they have heard related 
or read, or a poem turned by themselves into 
prose ; this last being a most valuable exercise. 
It is surprising to see what a blurred effect pupils 
will at first produce in this story telling, showing 
that the picture is vague in their own imagination, 
but the exercise, although rather difficult, if perse- 
vered in, brings about most satisfactory results. 



32 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONTRAST. 

T)RACTICE ill contrast serves to break up 
■^ monotony and introduce lite and variety 
into the reading. Fhe tollowini;- selections, which 
present a stroni;- contrast oi thought and emotion, 
are written upon the board : 

1 Deep stiUness tell on all around, 

Through that dense crowd was heard wo 
sound 
Of step or WiNrd. 

2 Hark to the bugle's roundelay ! 

Boot and saddle ! To horse and away ! 

Mount and ride as ye ne'er rode bef6re, 

Spur till your horses' tianks run g6re, 

Ride for the sake of human lives. 

Ride as ve would were vour sisters and wives 

Cowering under the scalping knives, 

Boot and saddle ! Aw;\v ! ^ AwAv ! 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 33 

When the class have had time enough to 
become familiar with the wortls and the thought 
expressed, the teacher says, •' Who will point out 
the key-word in the tirst selection ? " 

Miss B, **I think it is * silence'." 

Teacher, ** Yes, and now I should like to have 
some one make a picture for us from these 
words." 

Miss H, ** I see an immense crowd of people 
gathered around a scaffold ; they are struggling 
and pushing and fighting in their attempts to get 
nearer to it, when suddenly a beautiful woman 
dressed in a long, black robe mounts the steps of 
the scaffold, and a deep, mournful silence falls on 
the multitutle. I think this picture came to me so 
readily because I have been reading lately about 
the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots." 

Teacher, "That is a vivid picture, Miss H. and; 
Class, how does a knowledge of the key-word help 
us in deciding how the extract shall be read ? " 

Miss L, "I think it makes us want to read it 
softly." 

Miss B, *• I think we ought not to read it too 
softly, because we are to give the impression of 
an immense crowd." 



34 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

The teacher here reads the selection in two 
ways ; first in simply a quiet, gentle voice, almost 
a whisper, then in a stronger voice, but slowly and 
keeping the voice as much as possible on one 
pitch and that a low one ; the pupils, many of 
them, catch at once the idea of solemnity which 
is added by the latter method and prefer it as 
giving the impression of a larger number of peo- 
ple and a greater crisis. The teacher now says, 
"The class may rise and we will all say this 
together." When the extract has been given in 
concert two or three times so that the class as a 
whole has got into its spirit, the teacher may 
invite the class to select four pupils to give it 
separately, asking the class after all have read to 
decide which one of the four satisfied them best, 
which one seemed to bring before their minds 
most plainly the picture of the dense crowd with 
the breathless silence settling down over it. It 
will be found that the majority of the class will 
pronounce the .reading best which moves them 
most, and this method of criticism is valuable in 
that it trains the perceptive faculties and culti- 
vates the taste of the pupils while at the same 
time it stimulates their ambition. If carefully 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 35 

watched and directed by the teacher, the competi- 
tion will be perfectly friendly and may be very 
helpful to the class. The first selection having 
been analyzed the teacher says, " Now let us turn 
to the second selection. What is the first word 
or expression here which may be considered a 
key- word ?" 

Miss L, ''Bugle!" 

Miss H, " Up and away ! " 

Teacher, "Why do you prefer 'Up and away,' 
to 'Bugle,' Miss H .? " 

Miss H, " I think it gives us the idea of haste 
and excitement which the word ' bugle ' used 
alone does not." 

Teacher, " I think you are right. Who will 
now indicate any marked difference in the manner 
in which the two selections should be read .-* " 

Miss A, " I think the first one is to be read 
slowly, the second one fast." 

Teacher, "Why should the second one be read 
fast.?" 

"To give the idea of hurry." 

Teacher, " Yes, and what beside hurry is sug- 
gested here ? Look through the selection care- 
fully and try to tell me." 



36 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Miss H, ** I think there is fear expressed." 

Teacher, " What line or lines suggest fear most 

plainly ? " 

Miss H, " Ride for the sake of human lives ! " 

Miss D, 

" Ride as ye would, were your sisters and wives 
Cowering under their scalping knives." 

The general idea is here developed by calling 
for the picture which the words suggest, of a little 
band of cavalry out on the plains riding to the 
rescue of a house or settlement attacked by 
Indians. Classes are always interested by an 
allusion to Gen. Custer's life and work, and in 
general the more vividly the picture is brought 
before the minds of pupils, either old or young, 
the more quickly and enthusiastically do they 
catch the spirit of the selection and put it into 
their delivery. It is not time wasted to talk 
about a selection before attempting the reading 
of it. Too often it is mere words to the pupil 
and much tact and enthusiasm are required to get 
the thought and emotion before the mind. When 
this is done, an important step has been taken in 
breaking up the spiritless, monotonous style of 
reading which so many pupils have. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 3; 

The pupils having got into the spirit of min- 
gled fear and excitement which is embodied in the 
second extract, the delivery may be worked up as 
in the first selection, by concert reading with the 
teacher, then by individual reading. The two 
extracts should then be closely connected; i. e., 
one should be immediately followed by the other 
with the appropriate contrast of delivery. 

A few selections are here given which bring 
out sharp contrasts. As a further aid to the 
teacher, some of them are analyzed ; those which 
are numbered alike are to be used at the same 
time. 

I Run ! run for your lives ! high up on the 

land. 
Away ! men and children ! up quick and be 

gone,^ 
The water's broke loose, it is chasing me on. 

Excitement, hurry and fear are the emotions 
expressed. The key-word is **run" or **away." 
Read with quick movement, loud voice, spirited 
action. 

I "Across in my neighbor's window. 
With its curtains of satin and lace, 
I see 'neath its flowing ringlets 
A biby's innocent face, 



38 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Its feet in crimson slippers 

Are tapping the polished glass, 

And the crowd in the street look upward, 

And nod and smile as they pass. 

Quietness, gentleness and tenderness are here 
expressed. The key-phrase is ''baby's innocent 
face." Read in a gentle, quiet tone of voice, but 
brightly and with enjoyment of the lovely picture. 

2 '' The Lake has burst ! The Lake has burst ! 
Down through the chasms the wild waves 

flee. 
They gallop along with a warning song, 
Away to the eager, awaiting s^a ! " 

Terror, the emotion expressed ; key-phrase, 
''Lake has burst." Read loudly, quickly and 
spiritedly. 

2 "Ho, ho ! ha, ha ! the merry fire ! 
It sputters and it crackles ! 
Snap, snap ! flash, flash ! old oak and ash 
Send out a million sparkles." 

Key-phrase, "merry fire." Read quickly, mer- 
rily. The words "snap, snap!" are to be given 
in an abrupt, jerky manner, the force of voice to 
be increased on "flash, flash!" Bring out the 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 39 

thought with the class that the "flash, flash!" is 
a development from the "snap," and should there- 
fore be more forcible. 

3 Galloping, galloping, galloping in, 
Into the world with a stir and a din. 
The North Wind, the East Wind, and West 

Wind together, 
In-bringing, in-bringing the March's wild 

weather. 
Hear his rough chant as he dashes along, 
" Ho ! ye March children, come, list to my 

song ! 
A bold outlaw am I, both to do and to dare. 
And I fear not old ^arth, nor the powers of 

the air ! 
Winter's a dotard, and Summer's a prude. 
But the Spring loves me well, although I am 

rude!" 

Rude vigor is here the idea to be brought out. 
The key-phrase may be considered as "a stir and 
a din," or "the March's wild weather." The 
selection should be read with a loud tone of voice 
and very spiritedly. 

3 The melancholy days are come, the saddest 
of the year, 



40 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Of wailing winds and naked woods, and mea- 
dows brown and sere. 

Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the with- 
ered leaves lie d^ad, 

They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the 
rabbit's tread. 

The robin and the wren are flown, and from 
the shrub the jay ; 

And from the wood-top calls the cr6w through 
all the gloomy day. 

Sadness is the emotion to be expressed here. 
The key-phrase is " saddest of the year " or '' mel- 
ancholy days.'* Read with a gentle, quiet tone 
of voice, with great tenderness of feeling. 

4 The trumpet's loud clangor 

Excites us to arms, 
With shrill notes of anger 

And mortal alarms. 
The double, double, double beat 

Of the thundering drum, 
Cries, "Hark! the foes come; 

Charge ! charge ! 'tis too late to retreat." 

4 How still the morning of this hallowed day. 

Calmness sits throned on yon unmoving 

cloud. 
To him who wanders o'er the upland leas 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 4 1 

The blackbird's note comes mellower from 

the dale ; 
And sweeter from the sky the galdsome lark 
Warbles his heaven-tuned song; the lulling 

brook 
Murmurs more gently down the deep-worn 

glen ; 
While from yon lowly roof whose circling 

smoke 
O'er-mounts the mist, is heard at intervals 
The voice of psalms, the simple song: of 

praise. 
With dove-like wings, P^ace o'er yon village 

broods. 



5 "Silence ! " in undertones they cry, 
•' No whisper ! Not a breath ! 
The sound that warns thy comrades nigh 
Shall sentence thee to d^ath ! " 



5 Still at the bayonet's point he stood, 
And, strong to meet the blow, 
He shouted, mid his rushing blood, 
" Arm ! arm ! Auvergne ! — the foe ! " 



In the valley the waters rolled ; hillocks and 

mountains disappeared ; 
Grasping the helm in his iron hold, 6nward, 

right onward Sir Olaf steered. ^ 

High and higher the blue waves rose. " On ! " 

he shouted, "no time to lose ! " 



42 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Never was sailing like this before ; he shot 

an arrow along the wind, 
Or ever it lighted the ship sailed o'er the 

mark; the arrow was far behind, 
"Foster! faster!" cried Olaf, ''skip fleet as 

Skadbladnir, the magic ship ! " 

6 The tide flowed in, and rising to her waist, 
"To Thee, my God, I lift my soul," she sang. 
The tide flowed in, and rising to her throat, 
She sang no more, but lifted up her face 
And there was glory over all the sea, 
A flood of glory, and the lifted face 
Swam in it till it bowed beneath the flood. 
And Scotland's maiden martyr went to God.^ 

1 It may be objected that the poetical extracts are more numer- 
ous than the prose in the selections given as illustrations. This 
is necessarily so, where a picture, a contrast, or an emotion is to 
be compressed into the brief space used; a single stanza of 
poetry often embodying what would require a page of prose to 
e-xpress. This uneven distribution does not imply that correct 
oral reading of poetry is considered of more importance than 
expressive prose reading ; it will be found, however, that practice 
for a short time at the beginning of the lesson of one or two 
appropriate poetical extracts will often have a beneficial effect 
upon the reading of a prose selection of even the plainest 
descriptive style. 



HELPS JN TEACHING READING. 43 



CHAPTER V. 
INFLECTION. 

THRILL on inflection helps the pupil to gain 
^^ flexibility of voice and makes his reading 
brighter and more varied. It should be practised 
with classes of all ages. 

The word inflection may be defined to the 
pupils as a slide of the voice up or down the 
scale ; it is really a matter of pitch, the voice slid- 
ing to either a higher or a lower pitch ; pupils 
who are musical will be found to have a much 
better ear for the various inflections than those 
who are not so. 

When the definition has been given, it will be 
well for the teacher to illustrate the simple rising 
and falling inflections (or slides^) called the major 
or strong inflections and marked thus \( falling) 

^ The word slide is often better understood by younger pupils. 



44 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

/(rising), by the use of the various vowel 
sounds, and after the pupils have acquired some 
familiarity with these, exercises like the following 
should be frequently practised : 

The teacher having given a certain inflection, 
asks the pupils to reproduce it ; next, the class is 
asked to decide whether the inflection given is ris- 
ing or falling. Now, the pupils are requested to 
give the opposite inflection to the one which is 
given them ; /. e., if the teacher gives a (falling), 
class gives d (rising), care being taken that the 
downward slide starts from the same pitch which 
has been reached in the upward slide. This last 
exercise — that of giving the opposite inflection — 
a class finds at first somewhat diflficult, but it is 
valuable practice, training the ear to accurate 
distinction of the different slides. 

When sufficient drill has been given on the 
simple rising and falling inflections the teacher 
should next work with the minors.^ 

The pupils should be very familiar with the 

1 For the sake of clearness, when teaching the minor inflec- 
tions, I write the letter vt over the mark which is used to indi- 
cate the inflection. This method of marking is almost impossible 
to represent in print and teachers can follow their own inclination 
with regard to adopting it. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 45 

minor inflections in order that they may learn to 
avoid them, since much of the tame, lifeless read- 
ing, of which we have so much in the schools, 
comes from a too free use of the minor or sad 
inflections, in place of the bright, strong ones. 
In ordinary reading there is very little call for 
minor inflections ; children get into the habit of 
using them by being allowed to tease and drawl 
and whine at home, and then they naturally carry 
the tone thus acquired into their reading. 

It is best to call upon the thought and imagin- 
ation of the pupil in teaching this inflection ; let 
the teacher making use of long vowel sounds give 
them with a very sad, plaintive utterance with 
both the rising and falling slide. The pupil will 
soon detect the difference between these sounds 
and those which produce the major or strong 
inflections, and will gradually recognize their inap- 
propriateness in any reading save that which calls 
for the expression of sadness. As a test to ascer- 
tain whether the pupils thoroughly understand 
the difference between the two inflections, let 
them be required to change quickly from one to 
the other ; /. e,, from bright to sad, and vice versa, 
using the same vowel sound. 



4.6 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

When the major and the minor inflections are 
learned the circumflex should be taken ; this can 
be best taught by analyzing it, that is, by show- 
ing the pupil that it is made up of two simple 
inflections, the rising and the falling united, thus 
A or thus V. The teacher should first give the 
two simple inflections following one with the 
other very rapidly, thus 66 or thus 66 and then 
join them, 6 or o which will produce a wave in the 
voice. The pupils should be taught that these 
inflections are named a rising circumflex or a fall- 
ing circumflex, according to the slide which the 
voice last takes. Thus 6 is a falling circumflex 
because it ends with a downward slide, while o 
is a rising circumflex as it ends with the upward 
slide. 

The pupils will the better obtain the idea of the 
twist or wave in the voice if the derivation of the 
word is explained to them, circiivi flfcto, to bend 
around. When the teacher has explained this 
inflection to the class, thorough drill should be 
had by the use of exercises similar to those 
described under the head of major inflections. If 
the teacher will remember that a circumflex is 
made up of two simple inflections joined, a rising 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 4/ 

joined with a falling or a falling joined with a 
rising, she will have little difficulty in teaching it. 
If, however, her ear is deficient, a half hour's 
work with some good teacher of elocution would 
doubtless enable her to understand the subject. 

The next and last inflection to be taught is the 
monotone, marked thus -. This is explained to 
the pupils to consist of a tone which as nearly as 
possible keeps throughout on the same pitch or 
level ; there will, however, be a slight upward 
slide, at the end. The inflection should be prac- 
tised by taking the long vowel sounds and giving 
to them a full, free utterance, prolonging them 
slightly and keeping as much as possible on one 
pitch ; the tolling of a bell, where it will be 
noticed there is a slight suspensive sound at the 
last, is a good illustration of this inflection. 
When a familiarity with the different inflections 
has been gained it will be best to explain their 
application to reading. The pupil should be 
taught that the major or strong inflections are to 
be used in ordinary reading and conversation, that 
they are, in fact, the ones which we use habitually 
in our everyday talk if we talk brightly and pleas- 
antly. The suggestion to the pupil to tell the 



48 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Story rather than read it will frequently have the 
effect of producing these bright inflections. The 
class should be constantly encouraged to recog- 
nize them when produced, and to imitate them. 

The pupils should be taught to use the minor 
inflections only in utterances which are full of sad- 
ness or which indicate physical weakness. Thus, 
in the scene from the play of King John, where 
the little prince in the tower is to have his eyes 
put out by order of his cruel uncle, he is not only 
mentally in despair, but owing to his long confine- 
ment is physically weak, therefore he says with 
the minor or sad inflections (and the inflections 

here should be made very sad, as a more forcible 
illustration) : 

Oh, save me, Hubert, save me ! My eyes are out 
Even with the fierce looks of these bloody men. 

It should be remembered that the whole ex- 
tract should harmonize in inflection, although the 
marked words receive a more prominent slide as 
being those which bring out the thought, a rule 
for all inflections or slides being that they occur 
on the important words of a sentence and on the 
accented syllable of those words. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 49 

When an extract has been given in the minor 
key it is a valuable exercise for the pupil to trans- 
pose it into another key. As, for example, in the 
extract just given, after the pupils have read it 
with the appropriate sadness let them be required 
as a purely mechanical exercise to give it with the 
bright, strong inflections. They will at once 
realize the inappropriateness of these latter inflec- 
tions in this case, and will thus be helped to 
recognize the need of harmony between the 
thought or emotion and the manner of expression. 

The circumflex inflections are called for where 
the thought is to be presented in a satirical or 
mocking manner. For instance, it will be seen 
that the simple, direct inflections would fail to 
bring out the mocking spirit embodied in the fol- 
lowing extract from Whittier's Mabel Martin : 

The little witch is evil-eyed ! 
Her mother only killed a cow, 
Or witched a chOrn or dairypan ; 
But she, forsooth, must charm a man. 

The monotone inflection should be shown to be 
appropriate in the reading of extracts which 
demand a certain solemnity of utterance (which 



50 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

should be distinguished, however, from sadness). 
This inflection in reading corresponds to chanting 
in singing and is good practice for acquiring a 
strong, smooth tone. 

When a sufficient amount of drill has been 
given the pupils on the various inflections as 
applied to the simple vowel sounds, frequent use 
should be made of extracts similar to those which 
follow : 

MAJOR FALLING INFLECTIONS- 

1 "Who touches a hair of yon gray head 

Dies like a dog! March on !" he said. 

2 Quick! Man the life-boat ! Hark! the gun 

Booms through the vapory air ; 
And see ! the signal flags are on. 

And speak the ship's despair 
That forked flash, that pealing crash, 

Seemed from the waves to sweep her. 
She's on the rock, with a terrible shock — 

And the wail comes louder and deeper. 

3 The Turk awoke. 

And heard, with voice as trumpet loud 

Bozzaris cheer his band — 
"Strike — till the last armed foe expires! 
Strike — for your altars and your fires ! 
Strike — for the green graves of your sires, 

G6d, and your native l^nd ! " 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 5 I 

4 " HMt ! " The dust-brown ranks stood fast. 
"Fire!" Out blazed the rifle blast. 

5 True courage is not moved by breath of 

words,- 
Courage, the child of Fortitude and Faith 
Holds its firm empire in the constant soul ; 
And like the steadfast pole-star, never once 
From the same fixed and faithful point 

declines. 

6 I hear the bugles of the en^my ! 

They are on their march along the bank of 

the river. 
We must retreat, or be cut off from our boats. 

7 Hurrah ! hurrah ! the west wind 

Comes freshening down the bay, 
The rising sails are filling — 

Give way, my lads, give way ! 
Leave the coward landsman clinging 

To the dull earth like a weed — 
The stars of heaven shall guide Gs, 

The breath of heaven shall speed. 

8 Hark ! like the roar of the billows on the 

shore. 

The cry of battle rises along their charg- 
ing line ! 
For God ! for the Cause ! for the Church ! 
for the Laws ! 

For Charles, King of England, and Rupert 
of the Rhine. 



52 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

9 Hurrah ! the land is safe, is safe, it raUies 
from the shock ! 
Ring round, ring round, ye merry bells, till 
every steeple rock ! 

10 All hail to our glorious ensign! Courage to 
the h^art, and strength to the hand, to which in 
all time it shall be entrusted. 

May it ever wave in honor, in unsullied glory, 
and patriotic hope, on the dome of the Capitol, on 
the entented plain, on the wave-rocked topmast ! 



MAJOR RISING INFLECTIONS- 

1 Friends, has not the tmie come for us to 
rise like men and assert our rights ? Shall we 
gain strength by irresolution and inaction ? 

2 Must I budge ? Must I observe you ? 

Must I stand and crouch under your testy 
humor ? 



3 And has it come to this ? Are we so mean, 
so base, that we may not attempt to express our 
h6rror, utter our indignation at the most brutal 
war that ever stained earth ? 



Dead ? 
Custer, our hero, the first in the fight ? 

D^ad ? Our young chieftain, and dead all 
forsaken, 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 53 

No one to tell us the wdy of his fall ? 

Slain in the desert, and never to wdken, 
N6ver, not even to victory's call ? 

5 Why don't I work ? I, the tramp ? Well, 
sir, will you, right here on the spot, give me 
something to do ? 

6 A coward, boys ? Do you call him a coward 
who is afraid to do wrong ? Shall we not, rather, 
call him a h6ro ? 



MINOR INFLECTIONS. 

Work — work — work, 

Till the brain begins to swim 

Work — work — work. 

Till the eyes are heavy and dim. 

O ! but to breathe the breath 

Of the cowslip and primrose sweet, 

For only one short hour. 

To feel as I used to feel, 

Before I knew the woes of want. 

And the walk that costs a m^al. 

Poor child ! the prayer begun in faith, 
Grew to a low despairing cry 
Of utter misery, " Let me die ! 
Oh, take me from the scornful ^yes 
And hide me where the cruel speech 
And mocking finger may not r^ach ! " 



54 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

3 And yet he m6aned beneath his breath, 
" O, come in h'fe, or come in deith ! 

O, 16st ! my love, Elizabeth ! " 

4 O, save me, Hubert, s^ve me! my eyes are 

out 
Even with the fierce looks of these bloody 
men. 

5 Woe to us, and woe to Scotland ! 

O, our sons, our sons and m^n ! 
Surely some have 'scaped the Southron, 
Surely s6me will come again ! 



CIRCUMFLEX INFLECTIONS- 

1 You're quite a powerful speaker, sir, I won- 
der you don't go into Parliament. 

2 We all may have what we like simply by 
liking what we have. 

3 He that trusts you, 

Where he should find you lions, finds 

You — hares 
Where foxes — geese ; 
With every minute you do change a mind. 
And call him noble, that was now your hdtc 
Him vile, that was your garland. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 55 

4 Scrooge. Bah ! humbug ! 

Nephew. " Christmas a humbug, Uncle ? You 
don't mean that, I'm sure." 

5 They follow an adventurer whom they fear 
and obey a power which they hate. We serve a 
monarch whom we love, a God whom we adore. 

6 " 'Tis green, 'tis green, sir, I assure you ! " 
''Green!" cries the other in a fury; ''why, sir, 

d'ye think I've lost my eyes V 

7 Can't you be cool like me } What good can 
passion do ? Passion is of no service, you impu- 
dent, insolent reprobate. Mark ! I give you six 
hours and a half to consider this ; if you then 
agree, without any condition to do everything on 
earth that I choose, why — confound you, I may 
in time forgive you. 

MONOTONE INFLECTIONS. 

1 Come to thy God in time, 
Rang out Tintagal chime, 
Youth, manhood, old age past 
Come to thy God at last. 

2 Beneath in the church-yard, lay the dead 
In their night encampment on the hill, 



$6 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Wrapped in silence so deep and still 
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, 
The watchful night-wind, as it went 
Creeping along from tent to tent, 
And seeming to whisper, ** All is well ! " 



It seems to say 

As it dies away — 

The brazen clang of the tremulous bell, 

Old — 5ld, weary and old ; 

The heart grows old ; for the world is cold," 

Solemnly sighs the far spent knell. 



The ocean old. 

Centuries old. 

Strong as youth and as uncontrolled, 

Paces restless to and fro 

Up and down the sands of g61d 

His beating heart is not at r^st ; 

And far and wide. 

With ceaseless flow. 

His beard of snow 

Heaves with the heaving of his breast. 

But the wind without was eager and sharp, 

Of Sir Launfal's gray hair it makes a harp, 

And rattles and rings 

The Icy strings, 

Singing, in dreary monotone, 

A Christmas carol of its own 

Whose burden still as he might guess. 

Was — "Shelterless, shelterless, shelterless! 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 57 

Yes, the year is growing 5ld 
And his eye is pale and bleared ! 
Death, with frosty hand and cold 
Plucks the old man by the b^ard, 
Sorely, sorely! 

The leaves are falling, falling. 

Solemnly and slow 

Caw ! caw ! the rooks are calling, 

It is a sound of woe 

A sound of w5e ! 



58 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



CHAPTER VI. 
ARTICULATION. 

'' I ^HE subject of articulation is an important 
-*- one, and can, I know from experience, be 
made interesting to the pupil, although the gen- 
eral impression is, that the study of it requires a 
dull, lifeless drill which the pupil will necessarily 
dislike. A little tact, however, in the methods 
employed will, I am sure, correct this impression. 

The need for special work in this department is 
great. Very rarely do we find in our public 
schools even moderately good articulation, while 
if in some few instances, a clear, distinct enuncia- 
tion is heard, it is usually so stiff and labored as 
to be painful to the listener and is gained at the 
expense of expression. The end to be aimed at 
in teaching this branch of reading is to help the 
pupil to gain a precise but easy and natural mode 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 59 

of utterance. Charles Kingsley in one of his 
books speaks of a certain character as ''possess- 
ing the enunciation of a gentleman." Make the 
pupils realize that a pure, distinct enunciation 
marks them for ladies or gentlemen just as surely 
as do good manners, and the battle is half won. 

To gain this easy but at the same time correct 
method of articulation, the attention of the pupils 
should first be called to the subject in various 
ways. They should be asked to notice the differ- 
ence between good and bad articulation, the 
teacher or some pupil giving examples of each. 
Remarks such as the foregoing from Kingsley 
should be quoted to them ; they should be made 
to realize how greatly increased is their enjoy- 
ment of public speaking or singing by good artic- 
ulation ; the story of Demosthenes, who struggled 
so hard to overcome a defect in his speech, 
might be told them. Other methods will doubt- 
less suggest themselves to the ingenious teacher 
who is interested in the subject. 

When the interest of the pupil has been 
aroused, I have found it best to begin practice not 
with elementary sounds but with some exercise of 
which he will at once see the practical benefit. 



60 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

My method is to give certain simple rules, allow- 
ing the pupil to copy them, with illustrations, 
from the black-board into a note-book, where they 
can at any time be referred to. The average age 
of the class must determine the number of rules 
which should be given for one lesson. With 
young pupils of the ages of ten or eleven, it is 
best to give only one, following it up with abund- 
ant illustrations. 

Some of the most important of these rules 
are : 

1. Do not pronounce final ^-^ like id; haunted, 
deserted, conte?ited- 

2. Do not pronounce final e/ like il ; cruel, 
fuel, duel. 

3. Do not pronounce ess like iss, or es like 
is ; goodyiess, 7'oughuess, hardness — freezes, pleases, 
searches. 

4. Do not pronounce er like ;/// or ah ; father, 
sister, motJier, energy. 

5. Do not pronounce ent like nnt ; prudent, 
dependent, evident. 

6. Do not pronounce et like //; basket, casket, 
bonnet. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 6l 

7. Be careful to pronounce r when it comes 
after a vowel in the same syllable ; dark, hard- 
ness, parted, market. 

8. Do not drop the ^ in ing ; giving, running, 
following, screaming, knowing. 

9. Do not join the final consonant of a word 
to the following word when this latter begins 
with a vowel; sit up, not si-t'np; and on, not 
an-d'on; and out, not an-d'oiit. 

10. Do not drop the // in such words as him., 
his, her ; I saw him, not I saw 'im^; I gave it to 
her, not I gave it to Vr. 

11. Be careful not to insert a/ or ch sound in 
such expressions as did you, dont you, etc. ; did 
yoUy not didj'ew; don t you, not don't chew. 

12. Be careful not to pronounce the sound of 
?7 like o'o ; duty, not dooty ; knew{u), not knoo ; 
dew(u), not dooP" 

^ A very common error. 

2 The sound of ii is often taught in an incorrect manner ; ortho- 
epists consider this sound as dipthongal, made up of the two 
sounds of e and 00, marked thus, ^00. The e sound is regarded 
as a glide ; /. e., the voice does not dwell upon it but glides over 
it to the 00 sound. The fault often made is in causing the pupil 
to dwell too long upon this initial sound, which produces a 
stilted effect. I have found the simplest and most satisfactory 
method of teaching this sound to be, to write upon the board the 



62 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

13. Be careful to pronounce the final conso- 
nant of a word, particularly when the next word 
begins with a consonant ; and 7iow, not an now ; 
get down, not ge down. 

14. Do not pronounce short (6) like aw; 
ddg, not dawg ; long, not lawng. 

15. Do not give the r sound after a final zv, 
when it is followed by a vowel ; draw on, not 
draw r 071 ; sazv a, not saw ra. 

Other rules may be added from time to time, 
but thorough drill on those given will not fail to 
bring about a marked improvement in articulation 
in our schools. 

After a rule has been learned, illustrations 
should follow; pupils may be sent to the black- 
board to write lists of words which come under 
the rule ; they should also be encouraged to pick 
out words which furnish illustrations of the rule 
or rules for the day, from their reading lesson. 
The methods are various by which the exercise 

word you and then to place before it the needed consonant 
sound, as you, d-you, (dew) ; you, ft-you, (knew). The pupils 
should first be called upon to pronounce the word you alone, then 
should unite with it the consonant sound which precedes. It is 
conceded that nothing marks the cultivated person so plainly as 
a correct pronunciation, or articulation, of this sound. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 63 

may be made interesting and profitable. When a 
sufficient number of rules has been learned to 
form a "working capital," the exercise which I 
have named "Articulation Practice" should follow 
and be made frequent use of. This consists in 
calling out pupils one by one before the class 
and allowing each to read until a mistake in artic- 
ulation is made, the mistake being detected by 
the class, and in order to make it perfectly fair 
there should be at least four hands raised for the 
same mistake ; i. e., the teacher's part is simply to 
watch for uplifted hands ; when she sees four 
hands raised at the same time, she stops the pupil 
who is reading and asks some one of the pupils 
whose hands are raised what mistake he has 
noticed. If three others have detected the same 
error, the pupil reading is requested to take his 
seat and another is called out. It is much better 
to allow the class to do the criticising, as it 
serves to make them keen ; the teacher may occa- 
sionally point out errors which have been over- 
looked, but these should not be allowed to count 
against the pupil. This exercise, followed up, 
helps greatly in making clear, distinct, careful 
readers. The fault to be guarded against in 



64 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

using the exercise is too great stiffness or pre- 
cision. The pupils should not be allowed to read 
too slowly or to *'chop up" the sentence. Teach- 
ers need not be discouraged if, at first, pupils find 
they can read scarcely a line without mistakes. 
Practice does wonders here, as elsewhere. I have 
had classes in which, at the first trial the best 
readers could get through only a few lines without 
criticism, but after a little practice many of the 
pupils were able to read a page or two without 
being criticised for a single error. For example, 
recently in a class of about forty girls, averaging, 
perhaps, thirteen years of age, one pupil read 
forty-two lines without one mistake, her combina- 
tions of edy ess, ?7, er, etc., being absolutely cor- 
rect, and the reading having also the added merit 
of expression. It adds to the interest if a record 
is kept by a member of the class, of the names of 
the two or three pupils who succeed each time in 
reading the greatest number of lines correctly. 
The exercise is equally available for young pupils 
or for those more advanced; the latter will natu- 
rally be more keen in criticising and will have a 
larger number of rules to work with. I should 
add that a repetition of a word or syllable is con- 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 65 

sidered a mistake, and if at any time ten hands 
are raised at the same moment frcm inability to 
hear well, this is also rated as an error, and 
another pupil is called to the front. 

It may be found that some pupils have diffi- 
culty in articulating well in consequence of a stiff- 
ness of the jaw, lips or tongue. In such cases 
a few exercises like the following for the purpose 
of rendering these organs more elastic will be 
found useful ; in fact, they should be employed 
from time to time with the class as a whole. 



Exercise I 

Place the lips closely together and say //, then 
place the tip of the tongue just back of the upper 
front teeth and say it. Now follow this by rais- 
ing the back part of the tongue and saying ik. 
This exercise calls into active play the lips and 
tongue. Pupils should be drilled until they can 
give the sounds rapidly and yet with perfect clear- 
ness. To vary the exercise, change the order in 
which the sounds are given, as ip-it-ik ; ik-it- 
ip ; it-ik-ip, etc.; also, preface the sounds with 
the different consonants as bip-bit-b ik. 



66 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Exercise II. 

This exercise is directed to overcoming that 
stiffness of the jaw which causes a mumbling 
indistinctness. Stretch the mouth laterally and 
say e, then open it very widely and say a/i, now 
pout the lips and say oo. The exercise may be 
varied, as in Exercise I, by changing the order of 
the sounds and also by the use of consonants. 



Exercise III. 
MOULDING. 

Let the pupil read to the class without voice ; 
i. e., simply by motion of the lips. Care should 
be taken in this exercise to avoid either vocaliza- 
tion or the slightest whisper, and the movement 
of the lips, tongue and jaw, while marked, should 
not be excessive. 

With advanced pupils a phonetic chart should 
be used, which will teach them the exact position 
of the vocal organs for each element of speech. 
I once had as a pupil a boy of about sixteen whose 
articulation was extremely faulty. One of his 
prominent faults was the substitution of z^ for 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 6/ 

til. He would say ven I went, for then I went, 
etc. This fault alone made his talk sound *' baby- 
ish" and was mortifying to his friends. The 
first time he read to me I stopped him on 
hearing this error and said to him, ''Place your 
tongue between your teeth. He did so. ''Now," 
I continued, "breathe out." He did this. "Do 
that same thing again," I said, "and add en^ 
He did as he was requested and to his surprise 
found himself pronouncing the word thefi as per- 
fectly as any boy in the class. The trouble was, 
his friends or teachers had never taught him the 
difference in the position of the tongue for v and 
th. He had been trained simply by ear, a method 
which had proved entirely inadequate. In using 
the accompanying chart, care should be taken to 
cause the pupils to distinguish between the name 
and the sound of a letter ; they should be asked 
such questions as, " Why is there no c in the chart, 
no X, etc }'' When the different positions are well 
fixed in the mind, analysis of words should be 
taken up briefly to show the practical use of the 
knowledge gained. 



68 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



CHART. 



VOWELS. 



LONG 


SHORT 


DIPHTHONGS^ 


e 


as in 


beet 


i 


as in 


it 


i(ae) 


as in die 


a 
ai 
a 




bay 
fair 
far 


e 
a 
a 


" " set 
" " mat 
" *' comma 


oi (6e) 
OU (a^o) 


" " coil 
" " out 


u 


« a 


fur 


u 


u a 


cup 


U (eoo) 


" " you 


a 
o 




caw 

so 


o 
oo 




top 
cook 






oo 


u « 


coo 













CONSONANTS. 



Breath 


Voice 


Nasal 


Place in mouth 


p as in pet 


b as in bet 


m 


as in met 


Lips 


wh " " when 


w * 


' " war 






« 


f " " fat 


V ' 


' " vat 






" and teeth 


th " " thick 


th ' 


' " this 






Tongue " " 


t • " tear 


d ' 


' " dear 


n 


" " near 


Tip of tongue 


ch " '* chair 


1 ' 
r ' 


' " ad 
' - red 








s " " sea 


z * 


' " buzz 






« <( « 


sh " " she 


zh ' 


' " azure 






" " " 




y ' 


' " yes 






Whole tongue 


k " " kind 


s ' 


' " get 


ng 


" " ring 


Back of " 


h-2 u u he 













lA diphthong is a union of two vowels in one sound. The 
vowel in the larger type is prolonged, the vowel in the smaller 
type is made very short ; thus in / (ae) prolong the a and dwell 
slightly upon the e. The positions represented by the vowels in 
the smaller type are called glides, because the position is scarcely 
taken before the sound is finished. 

' h takes the position in the mouth of tlie vowel which follows it. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 69 

ANALYSIS OF WORDS. 

A few words are here analyzed as a suggestion 
to teachers making use of the Chart. 

Pigeon (/br xjw a n^Y\ Content (/^br ^ n^ /br ^ 

«n /br) ; lake (/v d khr) ; through (^^br ^v J^) ; 

finance (/br t «n ^ ;2n j-br). When the pupil has 
written upon the board in the manner indicated, 
the words which are to be analyzed, he should 
next be requested to articulate each sound sepa- 
rately, and should then unite the sounds, forming 
the word as a whole. 

^br — breath; v — voice; n — nasal. 



JO HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



CHAPTER VII. 
QUALITY OF VOICE. 

THIS may be defined as the kind of voice 
used in the delivery of any passage : it 
should be in harmony with the thought and feel- 
ing to be expressed. Thus, the selection to be 
read may be of a bright, joyous nature ; the quality 
of voice used should then also be bright and pure. 
Again, gravity, solemnity or awe may be the con- 
trolling emotion ; in this case the tone should be 
larger, grander and richer. 

Although there are naturally as many different 
qualities of voice as there are shades of feeling, 
for purposes of drill we make four general divi- 
sions : the pure tone, the whisper, the aspirate 
and the orotund. 

These different qualities must be taught chiefly 
by imitation, the teacher giving the required tone 
and calling upon the class to reproduce it. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. J I 

The pure quality, sometimes called the bright, 
pleasant quality, is used in ordinary narrative and 
conversational reading. The acquirement of this 
tone is a valuable aid in introducing vivacity 
and animation into the reading, and the import- 
ance of frequent practice in it cannot be over- 
estimated. It should be the habitual tone used in 
the school-room, not alone in the reading exercise 
proper but in all oral work. The use of bright 
inflections will be a help in teaching this tone to 
a class, and often the teacher will find some pupil 
who has naturally a bright, pure quality of voice. 
It would be well to call the attention of the class 
to this pupil's voice. Imitation is a natural pro- 
pensity, and children especially, are natural imita- 
tors ; hence the importance of a good example as 
a means of improvement. 

The following incident well illustrates this 
point. A graduate of one of our normal schools 
applied to the committee of a certain town for a 
school. Her credentials were good and she had 
a fair prospect of being elected to a position. 
She was, however, rejected, and the reason given 
was, that the committee were not willing for the 
children to have constantly before them the exam- 



72 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

pie of SO harsh and unrefined a quality of voice. 
The verdict seemed severe, but was it not a just 
one? With attention bestowed as unremittingly 
in this direction as in others, the voice might have 
been improved, and the young lady simply paid 
the penalty of her neglect. 

The whisper is rarely used in actual delivery — 
the aspirate taking its place — but practice of it 
helps to strengthen the voice and aids the pupil in 
acquiring a sustained breath power. In using the 
whisper, care should be taken to keep it out of 
the throat. Frequent breaths should be taken 
from the lower part of the lungs and the whisper 
should be made at the front of the mouth. Prac- 
tise the whisper with vowel sounds and then with 
short extracts of prose or verse. Keep the lungs 
well filled with air and do not work more than 
two or three minutes at a time. Well directed, 
the exercise is health-giving. 

The aspirate quality is used to express caution, 
secrecy, fear or terror. It is a mixture of breath 
and tone. The fault in producing this quality is, 
that it is apt to be either simply vocalization with 
no intermixture of breath, or a whisper with no 
vocalization. Request the pupils to place one 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 73 

hand on the chest, and then, making use of the 
long vowel sounds, teach them to send the voice 
to a distance while feeling the vibration at the 
chest. A further aid in acquiring this somewhat 
difficult quality would be to call upon the imagina- 
tion of the pupil. 

Select some extract in which the emotion of 
terror or the idea of secrecy is strongly embodied 
and ask the pupil to give it as he naturally would 
were he under the influence of this thought or 
emotion. The physical quality may often be thus 
obtained by the aid of the mental picture. The 
aspirate quality should not be practised too long 
at a time. 

The orotund quality is used in all selections 
which call for a sustained, powerful, full tone of 
voice. As the name indicates, it is to be made 
with a ''round mouth " ; that is, the mouth should 
be well extended and in a vertical rather than a 
lateral direction (the latter is a common fault 
and causes a fiat tone). The tone should be 
given on rather a low pitch and with the idea of 
sending it to a distance. 

All the foregoing qualities should be practised 
with vowel sounds, and with such combinations 



74 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

as ho, hd, Id, Id, etc., before the following exer- 
cises are studied : 

PURE QUALITY. 

I It is summer ! it is summer ! how beautiful 
it looks ! 

There is sunshine on the old gray hills, and 
sunshine on the brooks ; 

A singing-bird on every bough ; soft per- 
fumes on the air ; 

A happy smile on each young lip, and glad- 
ness everywhere. 



Ring out merrily, 

Loudly, cheerily, 

Blithe old bells from the steeple-tower. 

Clouds there are none in the fair summer 

sky; ^ 
Sunshine flings benison down from on high. 
Children sing loud, as the train moves along, 
"Happy the bride that the sun shines on." 



Bobolink ! that in the meadow, 
Or beneath the orchard's shadow, 
Keepest up a constant rattle 
Joyous as my children's prattle, 
Welcome to the north again ! 
Welcome to mine ear thy strain ! 
Welcome to mine eyes the sight 
Of thy buff, thy black and white ! 



HELPS IN TEACHlNCx READING. 75 

4 How. beautiful is the rain ! 
After the dust and heat. 

In the broad and fiery street, 

In the narrow lane, 

How beautiful is the rain ! 

How it clatters along the roofs, 

Like the tramp of hoofs ! 

How it gushes and struggles out 

From the throat of the overflowing spout ! 

In the country, on every side, 

Where far and wide. 

Like a leopard's tawny and spotted hide, 

Stretches the plain, 

To the dry grass and the drier grain, 

How welcome is the rain ! 

5 From the work-shop of the Golden Key there 
issued forth a tinkling sound, so merry and good- 
humored that it suggested the idea of some one 
working blithely, and made quite pleasant music. 
Tink, tink, tink — clear as a silver bell, and audi- 
ble at every pause of the street's harsher noises, 
as though it said, " I don't care ; nothing puts me 
out ; I am resolved to be happy." 

6 Bonny sweet marjoram was in flower, 

The pinks had come with their spices 
sweet ; 
Through the village sounded the Sabbath 
b^l, 



y6 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

And the reverent people flocked down the 
street. 
Little Elizabeth, prim and pale, 

A decorous little Puritan maid, 
Walked soberly up the meeting-house hill 

With a look on her face as if she prayed. 



ASPIRATE. 

1 Then he climbed to the tower of the church. 

Up the wooden stairs with stealthy tread. 
To the belfry-chamber overhead, 
And startled the pigeons from their perch 
On the sombre rafters, that round him 

made 
Masses and moving shapes of shade. 

2 Ah ! gentlemen, that was a dreadful mis- 
take ! Such a secret can be safe nowhere. The 
whole creation of God has neither nook nor cor- 
ner where the guilty can bestow it and say it is — 
sMe! 

3 But that I am forbid 

To tell the secrets of my prison-house, 
I could a tale unfold whose lightest w6rd 
Would harrow up thy soul and freeze thy 
young blood. 

4 What made Mabel's cheek so pile } 
What made Mabel's lips so white } 
Did she see the helpless sail 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. JJ 

That tossing here and there, 
Like a feather in the air, 
Went down and out of sight ? 

5 '' O, Father ! I see a gleaming light, 

O, say, what may it be?" 
But the father answered never a word, 

A frozen corpse was he. 
Lashed to the helm, all stiff and stark. 

With his face turned to the skies. 
The lantern gleamed through the gleaming 
snow 

On his fixed and glassy eyes. 

6 Peace ! within his chamber 

Low the mighty lies ; 
With a cloud of dreams on his noble brow, 
And a wandering in his eye. 

Shut the proud, bright sunshine 

From the fading sight ! 
There needs no ray by the bed of death 

Save the holy taper's light. 

Sing, for him, the victor, 

Sing — but low, sing low ! 
A soft, sad miserere chant 

For a soul about to go ! 

7 Alone, through gloomy forest shades 

A soldier went by night ; 
No m6onbeam pierced the dusky glades 
No stcir shed guiding light. 



7S HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

OROTUND. 

1 Now, by your children's cradles — now by 

your fathers' graves, 
Be men to-day, Quirites, or be forever slaves ! 

2 In lofty sounds that reached 

Their utmost ranks, called Hector to his 
host : 
"Now press them! Now, ye Trojans, steed- 
renowned. 

Rush on ! break through the Grecian ram- 
part ! hurl 

At once devouring flames into the fleet ! " 

3 Up with our banner bright. 
Sprinkled with starry light. 

Spread its fair emblems from mountain to 
shore ; 
While through the sounding sky, 
L6ud rings the nation's cry — 

IJnion and Liberty ! — one evermore ! 

4 Still, still, whene'er the battle-word 
Is Liberty — when men do stand 
For justice and their native land, 
Then Heaven bl^ss the Sword! 

5 The bell of Ghent responded o'er lagoon and 

dike of sand, 
I am Roland ! I am R61and ! there is victory 
in the land ! 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 79 

Toll, Roland, t5ll ! 

Not only in old St. Bdvon's tower ; 

Not only at the midnight hour, 

Not now from Scheldt to Zuyder Z^e, 

But Everywhere from sea to sEa ! 

Wherever Freedom's foe awaits, 

Within the walls or at the gates ! 

Toll, Raland, toll ! 

To arms ! to arms ! Ring out the call, 

Till answers every hero's breast 

From North to South, from East to WEst, 

In cottage, mart, or lordly hall ! 



7 Lord of the Winds ! I feel thee nigh, 

I know thy breath in the burning sky ! 

And I wait with a thrill in every vEin, 

For the coming of the hurricane ! 

He is come ! he is come ! do ye not behold 

His ample robes on the wind unrolled } 

Giant of air ! we bid thee hail ! 

How his gray skirts toss in the whirling 

gale ; 
How his huge and writhing arms are bent 
To clasp the zone of the firmament, 
And fold at length, in his dark embrace, 
From mountain to mountain the visible 

space. 

8 The war, then, must go on. We must fight 
it through. And since the war must go on, why 
put off longer the Declaration of Independence .? 



8o HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
EMPHASIS. 

/^^NE of the most valuable exercises in reading 
^^-^ is that of picking out the important words 
of a sentence or selection. It is wonderful how 
soon a class which has systematic drill on this 
topic improves in giving meaning to what is read, 
in going back of the words to what the words 
stand for, the thought. 

As an experiment, I took a boy of twelve who 
had always attended the public schools, a boy of 
rather more than average ability, and asked him 
to read a piece of ordinary prose. He read list- 
lessly and without much expression through half 
the extract, when I stopped him, and taking the 
first paragraph, began to pick out with him the 
important words. He brightened up instantly 
and we went on in this way through several para- 
graphs, the boy constantly becoming more inter- 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 8 1 

ested until he finally exclaimed, "Well, I never 
studied reading in this way before," and added, 
"You ought to hear some of the boys at our 
school read ; they don't put any meaning at all 
into it." The simple fact was, the boy had been 
made to see that the author meant something 
when he put words on paper ; when he got hold 
of that idea he entered, to an extent, into the 
delight of the author himself. The exercises in 
emphasis may be varied, and should be adapted to 
the age and average ability of the class, but they 
should be used in the youngest as well as oldest 
classes ; in fact, as soon as children begin to read 
at all they should be taught to consider words 
simply as symbols, and should be encouraged to 
look for the thought. 

On the other hand, nothing so inspires an ad- 
vanced class as the feeling that they are getting 
a peep into the workshop of the author's brain 
and trying to decide how he himself would prob- 
ably deliver his own thought. Mr. John Tetlow, 
Head Master of the Girls' High and Latin Schools 
of Boston, in talking to his pupils on the subject 
of reading, once said, " I consider the balancing 
of one word with another, to decide which most 



82 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

clearly brings out the thought and should there- 
fore be the emphatic word, to be one of the most 
valuable mental exercises." 

Let us now take some practical work in empha- 
sis. We will begin with sentences for younger 
pupils. The following sentence is written upon 
the board : 

**I saw a dog in the street." 

The teacher says, " Charley, please read this 
sentence." 

Charley reads the sentence without expression 
as so many words. 

Teacher, " What was it you saw, Charley.?" 

**A dog!" 

Teacher, ''Well, now read the sentence again 
and tell us what you saw We weren't there, you 
know." 

Charley reads again, '' I saw a dog in the 
street." 

Teacher, ''And now, class, suppose Tommy had 
been in the street with Charley and they were 
telling us afterward what they had seen. Tommy 
had just said, "I saw a horse in the street and 
then Charley spoke ; how would he have said it 
then, Harry?" 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 83 

He would have said, "/ saw a dog in the 
street." 

Teacher, **Yes, and now suppose Charley him- 
self had said to us just before this, 'I saw a cat in 
a window,' and then went on to say, 'and I saw 
a dog in the street ' " — the teacher reads this last 
clause without emphasis — ''how would he say it 
now, Joe .-^ " 

Joe, "He would say, ' I saw a cat in a zvindoWj 
and I saw a dog in the street.' " 

Teacher, " Yes, he didn't see the dog in the 
window, but, in the — what, class .^ " 

"In the street y 
' Different members of the class should here be 
called upon to read these sentences in the ways 
which bring out the various meanings ; they 
should then be encouraged to give the teacher a 
sentence themselves which may be written upon 
the board and studied in like manner with special 
reference to the emphasis ; these sentences should 
be taken from their reading lessons when practi- 
cable, and may be followed by short extracts 
of prose and poetry, which may sometimes be 
selected by the teacher, sometimes brought into 
the class by the children themselves. Contrasts 



84 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

of meaning should be used frequently as more 
easily grasped by the childish mind. As — 

*' When you give me an apple ^ I will give you 
an orange y 

The teacher will easily add other sentences to 
those given ; it must be borne in mind that the 
main thing is to encourage the children to tJii7ik. 

When this is done, there will be much less 
monotony and listlessness in the manner of read- 
ing, and the work done in this particular depart- 
ment will, I know from experience, tell in other 
departments. Teachers sometimes say to me, 
"But we haven't time to go into it in this detailed 
way," and I always reply, "You overrate the 
amount of time necessary to be taken ; five or 
ten minutes at the beginning of the lesson two 
or three times a week, used in this way would 
accomplish much, and if the exercise were con- 
ducted in a spirited manner, would rouse the 
pupils so that the whole lesson would have a snap 
to it which it would otherwise lack. The usual 
practice of reading around the class in rotation 
with little or no criticism, in many cases simply 
confirms bad habits, and while a certain amount of 
this rotation reading is necessary in order to teach 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 85 

familiarity with words and fluency, it should be 
offset by careful drill work at stated intervals, 
with the object of aiding the pupils to break up 
monotony and acquire expression and variety. 

Mr. S. S. Taylor, Sup't of Schools in St. Paul, 
Minn., says, " T have sometimes thought less read- 
ing in some classes would be wise, unless more 
attention is given by the teachers to the st}//e of 
reading." 

We will now take a lesson in emphasis for 
older pupils. The following extract having been 
written upon the board, the pupils are requested 
to look it over carefully and be ready to point 
out the important words : 

*' One of the illusions is, that the present hour is 
not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your 
hearts that every day is the best day in the year." 

Teacher, "Who will give me the meaning of 
the word 'illusions ' ?" 

No hand is raised. Teacher, ** I will put it into 
a new sentence — It is an illusion that a lesson 
can be learned without study." 

Miss C, *' I think it means ' mistake '." 

Miss B, ''A false idea." 

Miss A, ''A vain thought." 



S6 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Teacher, *'Yes, you have all caught the mean- 
ing — perhaps *a mistaken fancy' is a good defini- 
tion. Now, who will put the word 'decisive' 
into a new sentence that I may be sure you 
understand its meaning ? " 

Miss S, '* The battle of Gettysburg was a deci- 
sive one." 

Miss N, ''It was a decisive moment." 

Teacher, " And now for the meaning ? " 

Miss H, ''Important." 

Miss A, " I think it means just about the same 
as critical." 

Teacher, " Yes, you are right ; have you any 
questions to ask before some one is sent to the 
board to mark the important words.?" 

Miss A, " I should like to know whether some- 
thing has been said previously about illusions ?" 

Teacher, " Ah ! I see why you ask that ques- 
tion ; suppose I say 'yes,' what will then be your 
first emphatic word ? " 

Miss A, "One." 

Teacher, '-Yes, but you may consider the 
extract by itself, as having no connection with 
anything which has gone before; what will now 
be your first emphatic word ? " 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 8/ 

Miss A, ''Illusions." 

Teacher, ''Right, and why?" 

Miss A, "Because that is what we are going 
to talk about, the subject we are introducing." 

Teacher, " Miss H, you may go to the board 
and underline the words which you consider most 
important. Class, why do I emphasize the word 
*most ' } " 

"Because we are apt to emphasize too much." 

Teacher, "And what bad effect does that 
have.?" 

" It gives a jerky effect to the reading, and 
takes away from its strength." 

Miss H emphasizes the extract as follows : 

" One of the illusions is, that the present hour is 
not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your 
hearts that every day is the best day in the j/^<a:r." 

Teacher, "Class, notice the words emphasized 
and criticise if you wish." 

Miss R, "I don't see why 'hour' shouldn't be 
emphasized — 'the present hour'.'' 

Several hands are raised to reply to this 
criticism. 

Miss L, "I think 'hour' here simply stands 



8S HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

for time, and the thought is that now, the present 
time, is the best time." 

Teacher, '' Good ! And Miss J, what have you 
to say.?" 

Miss J, '*I think Miss R's answer is a good 
one, but there is another reason, too, it seems to 
me : we know * critical ' and * decisive ' are import- 
ant, and if they are emphasized, ' present ' must 
be, also." 

Teacher, "Why, Miss J .?" 

" Because ' present ' has the same relation to 
the first 'hour' which 'critical' and 'decisive' 
have to the second, and so, if one is taken the 
other must be." 

Teacher, "Yes, Miss J. I catch your idea; it 
is not time as time which is important, but the 
kind of time, the presejii time, the critical time, 
etc. Miss D, you have a criticism to offer, I 
think." 

Miss D, " I should emphasize * hearts ' rather 
than 'write'." 

Teacher, "Miss H, why did you mark 'write' .?" 

Miss H, " I think my idea was that we should 
put it on our heart in such a way that it should 
not be erased easily." 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 89 

Teacher, "Well, Miss D, what is your reason 
for preferring the word * hearts' ?" 

Miss D, ''Why, it seems to me that the heart 
is the best place to put it, that it would stay there 
and be remembered." 

Teacher, '' You both have very nearly the same 
thought. One wants it put in such a zuaj^ that it 
cannot be erased easily, and the other wishes it 
put in such a J>/ace that it will not be lost sight 
of, considering the heart as the most sacred place. 
We will let the class decide the question. I 
think each position has been well defended, and 
you must remember that emphasis is not always 
an arbitrary thing, that is, one person cannot 
decide it for all, since, in many cases, it depends 
upon the different ways in which the thought is 
grasped." The teacher puts the question to 
vote; a majority decide in favor of the word 
"hearts." 

Teacher, "Have you anything further to say.''" 

Miss A, " I think it is not necessary to empha- 
size the word * day ' ; ' every day is the best day ' 
— 'day' means time again just as 'hour' did; I 
think the chief words in that last sentence are 
'every' and 'best' and 'year.' 



90 HELPS IN TEACHING READING 

Teacher, **I think you are right. Miss H. may 
now make corrections." 

When the corrections are made the extract is 
found to be emphasized as follows : 

" One of the illusions is, that the pi^esent hour 
is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on 
your hearts that every day is the best day in the 
year'' 

One of the pupils is now called upon to read 
the selection. It will be found at the end of such 
an exercise as the foregoing that more close 
thinking has been done on the part of the pupils 
than in half a dozen ordinary reading lessons, and 
occasional practise of a similar nature will do 
much to rouse their perceptive faculties. The 
extracts given below will be found to be adapted 
to work in emphasis. 



FOR YOUNGER PUPILS. 

I Some men will learn more in a journey of 
ten miles than others in a trip rotmd the world} 

1 In the expression " round the world " it will be seen that the 
three words are necessarily united; in such a case, the last word 
of the phrase receives the emphasis. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 9 1 

2 Harry is a trustworthy boy ; he always tells 
me a story exactly as it happeiied. 

3 Yi^ prayeth best who loveth best 
y4// things, both ^r^<3:/ and small, 
For the dear C'^*^ who loveth ?^j, 
He made and loveth alL 



4 A boy can never be a true gentleman in /;^^;2- 
«^r until he is a true gentleman at //^^r/. 

5 For every evil under the sun, 
There's a remedy or there's 7ione ; 
If there is one try 2ir\djind it, 

If there ^^w'/ never mind it. 



'Tis education forms the common mind ; 
Just as the twig is bent the trees inclined. 

If Wisdom's ways you'd wisely seek, 
Five things observe with care ; 

(9/" whom you speak, to whom you speak, 
And how and when and where. 



That best portion of a good man's life, 
His little blameless, unrem em be re d diOXs 
Of kifidness and of love.^ 



Ill habits gather by unseen degrees. 

As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas. 



92 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

10 Speak clearly, if you speak at all ; 
Carve every word before you let it fall. 

1 1 The mountain and the squirrel 
Had a quarrel ; 

And the former called the latter ** Little 

Prig." 
Bun replied, " You are doubtless very big ; 
But all so7'ts of things and weather 
Must be taken in together 
To make up 2iyear 
And a sphere. 

And I think it no disgrace, 
To occupy my place, 
If I'm not so la7ge diS you, 
You are not so small as /, 
And not half so sp?y, 
I'll not deny you make 
A very pretty sqinn-el track ; 
Talents differ ; all is well and wisely put ; 
If / cannot c^xry forests on my back, 
Neither can yo?i crack a nut. 



FOR OLDER PUPILS. 

1 When a man has not a good reason for doing 
a thing, he has one good reason for letting it alone. 

2 The truest test of civilization is not the 
census or the size of cities, nor the crops. No, 
but the kind of 'tnen the country turns out. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 93 

3 The truer we become, the more unerringly 
we know the ring of truth. 

4 The difference between men consists, in 
great measiir^y in the intelligeiice of their observa- 
tion. The Rttssian pivverb says of the 7i07i- 
observant man, "He goes through \.\v^ forest and 
sees no fire-wood.'' 

5 When a man does a noble act, date him from 
that. Forget his faults. Let his noble act be 
the standpoint from which you regard him. There 
is much that is good in the worst of men. 

6 I dare do all that may become a man ; 
Who dares do more is none. 



7 True worth is in being, not seeming — 

In doing each day that goes by 
Some little good — not in dreaming 
Of great things to do by and by ; 

For whatever men say in their blindness 
And spite of the fancies of youth, 

There is 7iothing so kingly as kindness 
And nothing so royal as truth. 

[Coriolanus, Enraged by the Accusation of the Tribunes.] 

8 Call me their traitor \ Thou injurious Tri- 

bune! 
Within thine eyes sat twenty thousand 
deaths. 



94 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

In thine hands clutched as many millions, 
In thy lying tongue both numbers I should 

say 
Thou LiEST unto thee, with a voice d^s, free 
As I do pray the Gods. 

9 Trtith forever on the scaffold, 

Wrong forever on the thvne ; 
Yet that scaffold sways XhQ fut7cre, 

And behind the dim unknown, 
Standeth God within the shadow, 

Keeping watch above his own. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 95 



CHAPTER IX. 
FORCE. 

TTORCE may be defined as the amount of voice 
^ necessary for the delivery of a selection and 
should vary in degree according to the intensity 
of feeling or emotion to be expressed. 

The gentlest tone should be elastic and full of 
life, while in loud force there should be no strain- 
ing of the vocal organs. 

It is a valuable practice to train the pupils to 
send their gentlest tones to a distance ; i. e., let 
them while using gentle force still recognize the 
fact that they are to fill a large room with their 
voice. 

To attain this end, let some one of the class be 
asked to go to the back of the room ; the pupil 
reading, with his voice still kept at gentle force, 
is then required to make this critic understand 
what is read, the latter having no book. 



g6 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

It is a good plan to request the critic to repeat 
line for line what is read to him. In this way 
both the critic and reader obtain practice in force 
and also, incidentally, in articulation, since the 
fact that they are striving to make themselves 
understood causes them to exercise a care in 
this regard. 

Without some such practice as this gentle force 
is apt to become simply a tone of voice so low 
and lifeless as to be scarcely heard. 

It is necessary in using either degree of force 
that the lungs should be kept well filled and care 
should be taken to train the pupils to avoid the 
fault of allowing too much breath to be used in 
the formation of the first few words of a sentence, 
thus causing the voice to drop lifeless at the end 
of the sentence. 



GENTLE FORCE. 

O, the sweet, sweet lapsing of the tide, 

Through the still hours of the golden 
afternoon ! 
O, the warm, red sunshine, far and wide, 
Falling soft as in the crowning days of 
June ! 



HELPS IN TEACHINCx READING. 97 

Calls the gray sandpiper from the quiet 
shore, 
Weave the swallows light and music 
through the air, 
Chants the sparrow all his pleasure o'er and 
o'er. 
Sings and smiles the Spring, and sparkles 
Everywhere. 

2 Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. 
Her little bird — a poor slight thing the pressure 
of a finger would have crushed — was stirring 
nimbly in its cage ; and the strong heart of its 
child mistress was mute and motionless forever. 

3 Around this lovely valley rise 
The purple hills of Paradise. 
O, softly on yon banks of haze 
Her rosy face the Summer lays ! 
Becalmed along the azure sky. 
The argosies of Cloudland lie, 

Whose shores, with many a shining rift, 
Far off their pearl-white peaks uplift. 

4 I chatter, chatter, as I flow 

To join the brimming river; 
For men may come, and men may go, 
But I go on forever. 

I murmur under moon and stars 

In brambly wildernesses ; 
I linger by my shingly bars ; 

I loiter by my cresses ; 



98 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

And out again I curve and flow 
To join the brimming river; 

For men may come, and men may g6, 
But t go on forever. 

5 Father, guide me ! Day declines ; 
Hollow winds are in the pines : 
Darkly waves each giant bough 
O'er the sky's last crimson glow ; 
Hushed is now the convent's bell, 
Which erewhile, with breezy swell, 
From the purple mountains bore 
Greeting to the sunset shore ; 
Now the sailor's vesper-hymn 

Dies away. 
Father, in the forest dim 
Be my stay ! 

6 Was it the chime of a tiny bell 

That came so sweet to my dreaming ear. 
Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell, 
That the winds on the beach, so 
Mellow and clear ? 



Hark! the notes on my ear that play 
Are set to words ; as they float, they say, 
" Passing away, passing away ! " 

7 Hark ! the vesper call to prayer. 

As slow the orb of daylight sets. 
Is rising sweetly on the air 

From Syria's thousand minarets. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 99 

The calm, that cometh after all, 
Looked sweetly down at close of day, 
Where friend and foe commingled lay 
Like leaves of forest as they fall. 

'T" t!^ 'f^ Tf? ^ 

You might have heard the crickets trill, 
Or night-birds calling from the hill, 
The place was so profoundly still. 

Coo! Coo! Coo!" says Arne calling the 

doves at Mendon : 
A s6und, a motion, a flash of wings ; 
They are gone, like a dream of heavenly 

things ; 
The doves have flown, and the porch is still. 
And the shadows gather on vale and hill. 
Then sinks the sun, and the tremulous 

breeze 
Stirs in the tremulous maple-trees ; 
While love and peace, as the night comes 

down. 
Brood over quiet Mendon. 



MODERATE FORCE. 

I The illustrious Spinola upon hearing of the 
death of a friend, inquired of what disease he 
died. 

"Of having nothing to d6," said the person 
who mentioned it. 

"Enough," said Spinola, "to kill a general." 



lOO HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

2 Small service is true service while it lasts ; 

Of friends, however humble, spurn not 
one ; 
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts, 

Protects the lingering dew-drop from the 
sun. 



3 Heaven is not gained in a single bound ; 

But we build the ladder by which we rise 
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies. 
And we mount to its summit round by round. 

4 When a Persian soldier was reviling Alexan- 
der the Great, his officer reprimanded him by 
saying, ** Sir, you were paid to fight against Alex- 
ander, not to rail at him." 



A commonplace life, we say, and we sigh ; 

But why should we sigh as we say ? 

The commonplace sun in the commonplace 
sky 

Makes up the commonplace day. 

The moon and the stars are commonplace 
things. 

And the flower that blooms and the bird that 
sings ; 

But dark were the world and sad our lot 

If the flowers failed and the sun shone not ; 

And God, who studies each separate soul. 

Out of commonplace lives makes His beau- 
tiful whole. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. lOI 

LOUD FORCE. 

1 "Now, lads," the sheriff shouted, "you are 

strong like Norway's rock, 
A hundred crowns I give to him who breaks 
the lumber-lock." 

2 "Who dares.-'" this was the patriot's cry. 

As striding from the desk he came, 
"Come out with me in Freedom's name. 
For her to live, for her to die ? " 
A hundred hands flung up reply, 
A hundred voices answered — "I." 

3 A voice came down the wild wind, 
" Ho ! ship ahoy ! " its cry. 

"Our stout Three Bells of Glasgow 
Shall lay till daylight by ! " 

4 " Hurrah ! hurrah for Sheridan, 

Hurrah ! hurrah for horse and man ! 
Here is the steed that saved the day. 
By carrying Sheridan into the fight, 
From Winchester twenty miles away." 

5 "General, come lead us ! " loud the cry. 

From a brave band was ringing, 
" Lead us, and we will stop, or die — 
That battery's awful singing." 

6 Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled 

from wing to wing, 
Down all our line, in deafening shout, " God 
save our lord, the King." 



I02 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

7 Hurrah ! the life-boat dashes 6n, 
Though darkly the reef may frown ; 
The rock is there — the ship is gone 
Full twenty fathoms down ; 

But, cheered by hope, the seamen cope 

With the billows single-handed : 

They are all in the boat! — hurrah! they're 

afloat ! 
And now they are safely landed, 
By the life-boat ! 

8 The Turk awoke ; 

He woke to hear his sentries shriek, 
*' To arms! — they come ! — The Greek! The 
Greek!" 

9 Send forth the glad, exulting cry, 
From every hill, by every s^a. 

In shouts proclaim the great decree, 
"All chains are burst, all men are fr^e," 
Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah I 

10 It is done! 

Clang of bell and roar of gun ! 
Send the tidings up and down. 
How the belfries rock and reel I 
How the great guns, peal on peal, 
Fling the joy from town to town ! 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. IO3 



CHAPTER X. 
PITCH OR MODULATION. 

" I ^HE general pitch of voice is determined by 
^ the emotion to be expressed. Thus, a 
selection of which the chief emotion is one of joy 
and animation would require a high pitch, while 
in the expression of awe and solemnity the voice 
would naturally sink to a lower pitch. 

Pupils should receive frequent drill upon this 
subject of pitch, as nothing tends so surely to pro- 
duce monotony as the use of the voice on one 
unvarying tone. 

High pitch is used in portraying emotions 
expressive of joy, excitement, pity and tenderness. 

Middle pitch is required in ordinary descrip- 
tive and narrative reading. 

Low pitch is used to express awe, solemnity 
and reverence. 



04 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

HIGH PITCH. 

1 And lo ! as he looks, on the belfry's height 
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light ! 

He springs to the saddle, the bridle he 
turns, 
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight 
A second lamp in the belfry burns. 

2 And what is so rare as a day in June ^ 
Then if ever come perfect days ; 

****** 

Joy c6mes, grief goes, we know not how ; 

Everything is happy now, 

Everything is upward striving ; 

'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true 

As for grass to be green or skies to be blue, 

*Tis the natural way of living ; 

3 Now we're off like the winds to the plains 

whence they came, 
And the rapture of motion is thrilling my 

frame ! 
6n ! on ! speeds my courser, scarce printing 

the sod, 
Scarce crushing the daisy to mark where he 

trod! 
t)n ! on ! like a d^er when the hound's early 

bay 
Awakes the wild Echoes ; away and away ! 
Still faster, still faster he leaps at my cheer, 
Till the rush of the startled air whirs in my 

ear! 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. I05 

4 With storm-daring pinion and sun-gazing eye, 
The gray forest eagle is king of the sky ! 

****** 

To the flash of the lightning his eye casts a 

gleam, 
To the shriek of the wild blast he echoes his 

scream, 
And with front like a warrior that speeds to 

the fray, 
And a clapping of pinions, he's up and away ! 
Away, oh, away soars the fearless and free ! 
What recks he the sky's strife ? its monarch 

is he ! 
The lightning darts round him, undaunted 

his sight ! 
The bl^st sweeps against him — unwavered 

his flight ! 
High upward, still upward, he wheels, till his 

form 
Is lost in the black scowling gloom of the 

storm. 



MIDDLE PITCH. 

1 Flower in the crannied wall 

I pluck you out of the crannies — 
Hold you here, root and all in my h^nd, 
Little flower — but if I could understand 
What you are, root and all, and all in dll, 
I should know what God and man is. 

2 *' Handsome is that handsome does — hold up 
your heads, girls," was the language of Primrose 



I06 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

in the play while addressing her daughters. The 
worthy matron was right. What is good-looking, 
as Horace Smith remarks, but looking good ? Be 
good, be womanly, be gentle, generous in your 
sympathies, heedful of the well-being of all around 
you ; and, my word for it, you will not lack kind 
words of admiration. Living and pleasant asso- 
ciations will gather around you. 

3 In the darkness as in daylight. 
On the water as on land ; 
God's ^ye is looking on us 
And beneath us is His hand ! 
Death will find us soon or later, 
On the deck or in the cot ; 
And we cannot meet him better, 
Than in working out our lot. 

4 The following incident exhibits in a happy 
light the difference between moral and physical 
courage : 

At the battle of Waterloo two French officers 
were advancing to charge a much superior force. 
The danger was imminent, and one of them dis- 
played evident signs of fear. The other, observ- 
ing it, said to him, "Sir, I believe you are 
frightened." 

*'Yes," returned the other, "I am; and if you 
were half as much frightened, you would run 
away." 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. IO7 

The brave man is not he who feels no fear, 
For that were stupid and irrational ; 
But he whose noble soul its fear subdues, 
And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks 
from. 



LOW PITCH. 

1 Break, break, break, 

On thy cold gray stones, O sea ! 

And I would that my tongue could utter 

The thoughts that arise in me. 

2 Heavy and solemn, 
A cloudy column. 

Through the green plain they marching come 
Measureless spread, like a table dread. 
For the wild, grim dice of the iron game. 
Looks are bent on the shaking ground. 
Hearts beat low with a knelling sound. 

3 Ah ! he came in with the tide — all alone! 
Tossed upon the shining sands. 
Ghastly face, and clutching hands. 
Sea-weed tangled in his hair. 

Bruised and torn his forehead fair ; 

Thus he came in with the tide — all al6ne ! 

4 By day its voice is low and light ; 
But in the silent dead of night. 
Distinct as a passing footstep's fall, 



I08 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

It echoes along the vacant hall, 
Along the ceiling, along the floor, 
And seems to say, at each chamber door — 
"Forever — Never ! Never — forever! " 

5 Tread softly — bow the h^ad, in reverent 

silence bow ; 
No passing bell doth toll, yet an immortal 
s6ul 

Is passing now. 
Stranger, however great, with lowly rever- 
ence bow ; 
There's one in that poor sh^d, one by that 
paltry bed. 

Greater than thou. 

6 Tall, toll, toll. 

Thou bell by billows swung ! 

And night and day thy warning words 

Repeat with mournful tongue. 

Toll for the queenly boat 

Wrecked on yon rocky shore ; 

Se^-weed is in her palace-halls ; 

She rides the surge no more. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. lOQ 



CHAPTER XI. 
RA TE OF MO VEMENT. 

1\ yrUCH of the lifelessness of ordinary reading 
^^ ^ comes from the pupils' keeping throughout 
to the same rate of movement. Pupils should be 
taught to vary the movement according to the 
thought or feeling. In deciding this, their knowl- 
edge of key-words will come into use. They 
should have frequent practice on extracts illus- 
trating the different rates of movement, when 
attention should be called to the emotion por- 
trayed. They will thus be made to realize that 
when a person is roused, excited, anxious or ner- 
vous, he is apt to speak more quickly than when 
he is calm or quiet, and that emotions of tender- 
ness, gentleness, dignity and solemnity require a 
slower rate of movement than do those which are 
indicative of excessive joy or violent passion. 



no HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

Such contrasted extracts as the following will 
help to make this plain to the pupil. Extracts 
which have the same number are to be used 
together. 

I Quick, quick, throw me the rope ! 

1 Slowly and sadly we laid him down. 

2 Then up sprang^ Appius Claudius : 
" Stop him ; alive or dead ! 

Ten thousand pounds of copper to the man 
who brings his head." 

2 John said slowly, '^Well, I can't decide that 
yet ; I must think it over." 

3 She cries to her horse, ''Faster, Prince, oh, 
faster! the enemy is almost upon us." 

3 The day, the night dragged slowly by. 

4 Through flashing sabres. 

Through a stormy hail of l^ad. 
The good Thessalian charger 
Up the slopes of olives sped. 

4 Hark ! from the battlements of yonder tower 
The solemn bell has tolled the midnight 
hour. 

1 Call the pupils' attention to the key-word "sprang," which 
indicates excitement and hurried action. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 1 1 I 

5 Q^iick ! man the life-boat ! see yon b4rk, 
That drives before the blast ! 
There's a rock ahead, the fog is dark, 
And the storm comes thick and fast. 

5 The day is done, and the darkness 

Falls from the wings of Night, 
As a feather is wafted downward 
From an eagle in his flight. 

6 Swifter and swifter across the foam the quiv- 
ering boat leaped over the track. 

6 See how beneath the moonbeam's smile, 
Yon little billow heaves its breast, 
And foams and sparkles for a while, 
And mumuring then subsides to r^st. 

In the extracts given below, the teacher will do 

well to train the pupil to recognize the reason for 

the particular rate of movement specified. The 

exercise will thus be to him a valuable means of 

developing the critical faculty and cultivating the 

taste. 

RAPID MOVEMENT. 

I Aw^y ! Away ! And on we dash ! 
Torrents less rapid and less rash, 
Awiy, Away, my steed and I, 
Upon the pinions of the wind. 
All human dwellings left behind. 



112 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

2 A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 

A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 
And beneath from the pebbles in passing, a 

spark 
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and 

fleet. 

3 News of battle ! — News of battle ! 
Hark ! 'tis ringing down the street ; 
And the archways and the pavement 
Bear the clang of hurrying f^et. 

4 Quick gallops up with headlong speed, 
A noble count on noble steed ! 

And lo ! on high his fingers hold 
A purse well stored with shining gold. 
"Two hundred pistoles for the man who shall 

save 
Yon perishing wretch from the yawning 

grave." 

5 Out — out into the darkness — 
Faster and still more fast ; 

The smooth grass flies behind her, 
The chestnut wood is past ; 

She looks up ; clouds are heavy ; 
Why is her steed so slow.'* 
Scarcely the wind beside them 
Can pass them as they go. 

6 Sp^ed, Malise, sp^ed ! the dun deer's hide 
On fleeter foot was never tied, 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING I I 3 

Speed, Malise, sp^ed ! such cause of haste 
Thine active sinews never braced. 

The crag is high, the scaur is deep ; 
Yet shrink not from the desperate leap ; 
Parched are thy burning lips and brow. 
Yet by the fountain pause not now. 
Herald of battle, fate and fear 
Stretch onward in thy fleet career ; 
Danger, death and warrior d^ed 
Are in thy course — speed, Malise, speed. 



MODERATE MOVEMENT. 

1 Well to suffer is divine ; 

Pass the watchword down the line ; 
Pass the countersign : "Endure." 
Not to him who rashly ddres. 
But to him who nobly bears, 
Is the victor's garland sure. 

2 Howe'er it, be it seems to me, 
'Tis only noble to be good ; 

Kind hearts are more than coronets. 
And simple faith than Norman blood. 

3 I find the great thing m this world is not so 
much where we stand, as in what direction we are 
m6ving ; to reach the port of heaven, we must 
sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes 



114 HELPS IN TEACHING READING 

against it, but we must sail, and not drift, nor 
lie at anchor. 

4 To claim the Arctic came the sun 
With banners of the burning zone. 
Unrolled upon their airy spars. 
They froze beneath the light of stars ; 
And there they float, those streamers old, 
Those Northern lights forever cold. 

5 This I beheld or dreamed it in a dream : 
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain ; 
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged 

A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords 
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's 

banner 
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed 

by foes. 
A craven hung along the battle's edge. 
And thought; *' Had I a sword of keener 

steel — 
That blue blade that the king's s6n bears — 

but this 
Blunt thing!" — he snapt and flung it from 

his hand. 
And lowering, crept away and left the field. 
Then came the king's son, wounded, sore 

bestead. 
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword. 
Hilt buried in the dry and trodden sand. 
And ran and snatched it, and with battle- 
shout 
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy d6wn, 
And saved a great cause that heroic day. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. II 5 

SLOW MOVEMENT. 

1 Every moment of our lives, we breathe, 
stand, or move in the temple of the Most High ; 
for the whole Universe is that temple. Wher- 
ever we go, the testimony to His power, the 
impress of His hand are there. 

2 'Tis midnight's holy hour ; and silence now 
Is brooding like a gentle spirit o'er 

The still and pulseless world. Hark ! on the 

winds 
The bell's deep tones are swelling; 'tis the 

knell of the departed year. 

3 Solemnly, mournfully. 

Dealing its dole. 
The Curfew Bell 
Is beginning to toll. 

Cover the embers, 

And put out the light ; 
Toil comes with the morning, 

And rest with the night. 

Dark grow the windows. 

And quenched is the fire ; 
Sound fades into silence. 

All footsteps retire. 

Darker and darker 

The black shadows fall ; 
Sleep and oblivion 

Reign over all. 



Il6 HELPS I\ TEACHING READING. 

4 No Stir in the air, no stir in the sea, 
The ship was as still as she could be ; 
Her sails from heaven received no motion, 
Her keel was steady in the ocean. 

Without either sign or sound of their shock. 
The waves flowed over the Inchcape rock. 
So little they rose, so little they fell, 
They did not move the Inchcape bell. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. II / 



CHAPTER XII. 

TRANSITION. 

A FTER the pupils have gained a certain flexi- 
^ bility of voice from the practice of the 
exercises under inflection, rate of movement, 
force, etc., and have learned to distinguish quickly 
the key-word of an extract, thus determining its 
general style of delivery, and have also acquired 
some facility in picture-making, exercises in tran- 
sition will do much in helping them to gain the 
power of changing easily in the expression of 
different emotions, and thus bringing into their 
reading a greater variety and a more appreciative 
interpretation of the thought and feeling. In all 
detached extracts which are given to the pupils 
for practice I think it well to talk over the selec- 
tion with them first, trying to make it something 
more than words to them. A frequent practice of 
my own is to call up a picture for which the 



Il8 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

words of the selection might stand, either giving 
the picture myself or, better, calling upon individ- 
ual members of the class to do so, and correcting 
and supplying what may be necessary for a har- 
monious representation. 

As an illustration of this method, let us con- 
sider the extract which follows ; it is one in which 
I have always found pupils to be much interested 
and furnishes a fine example of transition : 

1 Stand aside ! stand aside ! 
Leave a space far and wide 

Till the Regiment forms on the track ; 

Two soldiers in blue. 

Two men — only two 

Stepped off and the Legion was back. 

2 The hurrahs softly died 
In the space far and wide. 

As they welcomed the worn, weary men. 
The drum on the hill grew suddenly still, 
And the bugle was silent again. 

After the class has become sufificiently familiar 
with the words to read them easily from the 
board, I ask, "Who will make for us a picture 
from these words ? " 

Perhaps no pupil, at first, will be able to make 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. II 9 

a distinct, clear-cut picture, but we shall get it by 
bits, as a mosaic. 

One pupil says, "A regiment is coming home 
when the war is over." The question then arises, 
**0f how many men does a regiment consist?" 
This is to bring out the idea of the large number 
of men expected. 

Another pupil says, "They are going to form 
on the track when they get out of the cars and 
march to the town hall." The question now 
arises, "Why should they go to the town hall.?" 

The pupils, particularly the boys, become inter- 
ested in the idea of speeches, war songs, etc. 

Another pupil now calls attention to the fact 
that only two men step off, whereupon some 
one, the teacher, perhaps, asks what it means, 
then, by saying in the next line that the " Legion 
was back".? There is here a pause which the 
teacher would do well not to break too quickly. 
Let the pupils do a little thinking and feeling 
first. 

At length, some bright pupil who has the artis- 
tic temperament, that is, the susceptible, imagina- 
tive temperament, says hesitatingly, " I think — 
the man who wrote it — put it that way purposely, 



I20 HELPS "IN TEACHING READING. 

SO as to make it seem more sad. The people 
were expecting a great many men and only two 
came back. I suppose the rest were either dead 
or in hospitals — the two soldiers in blue made up 
the whole regiment." And thus the question is 
fittingly answered, and the pupils begin, some 
of them, at least, to feel a thrill of admiration 
and pity. The picture may be further elabora- 
ted by bringing out the idea of the group of 
people clustered around the village station, con- 
taining the friends and relatives of the expected 
soldiers, the passing through the crowd of the 
word to fall back or *' Stand aside ! " as the 
train draws up, and the sudden hush that falls 
over the multitude as the two soldiers step off, 
the triumphant preparations being all silenced as 
they welcome the "worn, weary men." After 
this emotional part has been developed, the pupils 
will be ready for the reading of the selection and 
will put into it much more feeling than they 
would have done if such a talk had not preceded 
actual practice. Now it will be comparatively 
easy to make them realize that the first three 
lines should be given with excited, rapid, loud 
and triumphant utterance, in the form somewhat 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 121 

of a command, that there should be a sudden 
break before the fourth line which should be 
given with a tone of disappointed wonder, grow- 
ing in the next two lines into anxiety and dread, 
and followed in the second stanza by a sudden, 
sorrowful husJi of utterance, produced by a mono- 
tone inflection, a lower pitch of voice and a feel- 
ing of sympathetic awe.^ In all such cases, the 
pupil should be taught to see the picture ; that is, 
he should not be allowed simply to describe it to 
the class as if it were a repre^ntation of some- 
thing which happened long ago and in which he 
had no personal interest, but should be asked to 
tell the story as if the event were happening at 
the time, he being one of those present. As a 
mechanical aid to this end, the pupil should be 
taught to look off, away from the class, while 
delivering the extract, as if he were actually 
seeing the crowd of people, the two soldiers, 
etc. 



1 Individual pupils whose feelings are not easily touched are 
often helped, unconsciously, to get into the right spirit by concert 
reading, the feeling of the class carrying them with it. And, in 
general, if the faults of heaviness and lifelessness are guarded 
against, concert reading may be made most beneficial to the 
pupils. 



122 HELPS IN TEACHING READING 

The following selections are to be used for prac- 
tice in transition : 

I As quivering through its fleece of flame, 
The sailing monster slow falls on the anvil, 
All about the faces fiery grow. 

'' Hurrah ! " they shout, ''leap out ! leap out ! " 

" Bang ! bang ! " the sledges go. 

The ''sailing monster" referred to is an anchor 
which is to be shaped upon the anvil. The key- 
words of the first two lines are "monster" and 
"slow," of the third line the key-word is "fiery," 
and of the last two "shout." The picture pre- 
sents itself of a group of swarthy men standing 
with uplifted sledges about a huge anchor which 
has just been drawn from the furnace and is being 
lowered to the anvil. The first two lines are to 
be read with slow movement and firm, strong 
utterance, low pitch and monotone inflection; on 
the third line the movement becomes more rapid 
and the pitch changes to a higher one, while on 
the last two lines the movement quickens still 
more and the tone of voice becomes loud and 
triumphant, the "bang! bang!" being given in 
such a way as to suggest the sound of the 
hammers. 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 123 

2 Ye winds, ye unseen currents of the air, 
Softly ye played a few brief hours ago ; 

Ye bore the murmuring be^, ye tossed the 

hair 
O'er maiden cheek, that took a fresher glow. 

How are ye changed ! Ye take the cata- 
ract's sound : 

Ye take the whirlpool's fury and its might, 

The mountains shudder as ye sweep the 
ground ; 

The valley woods lie prone beneath your 
flight. 

The first stanza is to be given with a gentle, 
quiet tone of voice, which abruptly changes in the 
second to a grander, fuller, stronger utterance 
with slow movement. ** Softly" might be taken 
as the key-word of the first stanza, while "fury" 
and "might" would be appropriate key-words for 
the second. 

3 Silence ! They see not, they hear not. 
Tarrying there by the marge ; 

Forward ! Draw sabre ! Trot ! Gallop ] 
Charge ! like a hurricane charge ! 

The key-word of the first two lines is "silence ! " 
The lines are to be read in an excited undertone, 



124 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

while on the last two lines the voice should be 
raised to the loud tone of abrupt command. 

4 But see ! a faint and fitful light 
Out on the howling sea; 

'Tis a vessel that seeks the harbor mouth . 
As in d^ath agony. 

***** * 

Hark ! a trumpet note is heard; 
And over the rage and over the roar 
Of billowy thunders on the shore 
Rings out the guiding word, 
''The rope hold fast, but quit the mast 
At the trumpet signal ' Now ! ' " 

5 '* But I defy him ! — l^t him come ! " 

Down rang the massy cup, 

While from its sheath the ready bl^de 

Came flashing half way up ; 

And, with the black and heavy plumes 

Scarce trembling on his head, 

There, in his dark, carved, oaken chair, 

Old Rudiger sat — d^ad ! 

6 At last the hands have digged through the 

brands. 
They can see the awful stairs. 
And there falls a hush that is only stirred 
By the weeping women's prayers ; 

'' Now, who will peril his limb and life, 
In the damps of the dreadful mine ?" 

" I, I and I," a dozen cry. 
As they forward step from line, 



HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 1 25 

And down from the light and out of sight, 
Man after man they go, § 

And now arise the unanswered cries 
As they beat on the doors below. 
Hark ! hark ! the barricades are down, 
The torch lights further spread, 
The doubt is past — they are found at last, 
D^ad, dead ! two hundred dead ! 



Two hundred men at yestermorn 
With the work of the world to strive ; 
Two hundred yet when the day was s^t, 
And not a soul alive ! 

The wreath is twined, the way is strewn, the 

lordly train are met. 
The streets are hung with coronals — why 

stays the minstrel yet } 
Shout! as an army shouts in joy around a 

royal chief. 
Bring forth the bard of chivalry, the bard of 

love and grief ! 

Silence ! forth we bring him 

In his last array ; 

From love and grief the freed, tho' flown, 

Way for the bier - — make way ! 

How soft the music of those village bells. 
Falling at intervals upon the ear 
In cadence sweet ! now dying all away, 
Now pealing loud again, and louder still, 
Clear and sonorous, as the gale comes on. 



126 HELPS IN TEACHING READING. 

9 The voice of a bell has a human sense and 
sympathy. Now it rings out strong and clear like 
a shout from the heart of a boy ; and now its mel- 
low notes dwell and linger like sweet memories of 
childhood. In the solemn night it seems God's 
warning voice ; and then, pitiless as fate, it beats 
with iron stroke the hours that make the little 
life of man. 

10 Words are instruments of music. Some 
words sound out like drums ; some breathe memo- 
ries sweet as flutes ; some call like a clarionet ; 
some shout a charge like trumpets ; some are 
sweet as children's talk ; others rich as a mother's 
answering back. 



